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THE USE AND NEED 


OF 

THE LIFE 


CARRY 


OF 



06 



A. NATION 

h 


WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 

REVISED EDITION TEN THOUSAND COPIES 
ILLUSTRATED 


1908 

F. M. STEVES & SONS 
TOPEKA 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
C ft n»*s Receded 


AUG 10 1908 



2 - i 3 i 53 


COKY A. 


COPYRIGHT 1908, 

BY 

CARRY A. NATION. 


All rights reserved. 


Anyone wishing a copy of this book, send to Author, 
217 D. St. N. W., Washington, D. C. 






ENCOURAGEMENT FOR CHRISTIAN WORKERS. 

‘My ivord shall not return unto me void.” —Is'a. 55:11. 

“When saddened by the little fruit thy labors seem to yield, 
And when no springing blade appears in all thy barren field; 
When those whom thou dost seek to win, seem hard, and cold, 
and dead— 

Then, weary worker, stay thine heart on what the Lord hath 
said; 

And let it give new life to hopes which seem welll-migh de¬ 
stroyed— 

This promise, that, “His word, shall not return unto Him 
void.” 

For, if, indeed it be His truth, thy feeble lips proclaim, 

Then, He is pledged to shadow forth, the glory of His name. 
True this at present may be veiled; still trustingly abide, 

And “cast thy bread,” with growing faith, upon life’s rolling 
tide. 

It shall, it will, it must be found, this precious living seed, 
Though thou may’st grieve that thoughtless hearts take no 
apparent heed. 

’Tis thine to sow with earnest prayer, in faith and patient love, 
And thou shaft reap the tear-sown seed, in glorious sheaves 
above, 

Then with what joy ecstatic, thou wilt stand before His throne 
And praise the Lord who used thee thus to gather in His own! 
Adoring love will fill thine heart, and swell thy grateful lays, 
That thou, hast brought some souls to Christ, to His eternal 
praise, 

That thou hast helped to deck His hrow, with blood-bought 
jewels bright; 

Trophies of His wondrous love, and His all-saving might. 

Oh, the grandest privilege to be thus used, to bring them in! 
Oh, grandest joy to see them safe beyond the reach of sin! 
Then mourn not, worker; though thy work shall cause thee 
many a tear 

The glorious aim thou hast in view, thy saddened heart will 
cheer, 

Remember, it is all for Him, whoJoveth thee so well; 

And let not downcast weary thoughts, one moment in thee 
dwell, 

It is for Him! this is enough to cheer thee all the way; 

Until thou hearest the glad “Well.done,’ and night is turned 
to day.” —Author Unknown. 





























































♦ 
































« • 




PREFACE. 


In all ages it has been true that God’s messengers 
have been unpopular because they are sent to combat 
the prevailing evils of their day and generation. 

Therefore, Christ said: “Blessed are ye when men 
shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all man¬ 
ner of evil against you, falsely, for My sake. Rejoice 
and be-exceeding glad for great is your reward, for 
so persecuted they the prophets before you.” (Matt. 
5 : 11 , 12 .) 

I represent the distracted, suffering, loving mother¬ 
hood of the World. Who, becoming aroused with a 
righteous fury rebelled at this torture. 

God blessed this righteous rage and gave directions 
for the act, that cried out! Mothers with their hands 
tied, have beheld the mutilation of their sons and 
daughters till Almighty God heard their groanings, 
and sent me to answer the prayers of those grand wo¬ 
men—The W. C. T. U. 

At the age of almost sixty-two, I feel that my work 
is almost done—one request I make of my dear sisters 
of the W. C. T. U., is to turn your powerful influence 
against “lodgism,” especially against the paganism and 
idolatry called Free-Masonry. In which are originat¬ 
ed the roots of all kinds of lusts. 



This is the “falling-away” that is to precede the 
coming of our Lord. Lodging away from the church. 
The lodges now, take the place of the ancient “idola¬ 
trous groves.” 

Get the writings of E. Ronayne, the converted Ma¬ 
son, from the National Christian Association Chicago, 
Ill. I beg you, for the love of God, and Jesus will 
bless you. Some day I will lie under the shade of a 
tree, and I want these words on the marble above my 
dust, 

“She hath done what she could 

I dedicate this book to the women of the W. C. T. U. 
1 owe them a debt of gratitude. 

I ask that each one of my readers will, utter a prayer 
that this book may be used of God, to reclaim the lost, 
and glorify His Almighty Name! “And that I may 
finish my course with joy and the ministry which I 
have received of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:24.) 

CARRY A. NATION, 

Your loving “Home Defender.” 
Washington, D. C., 217 D. St. N. W. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I. 

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME AND WHAT I REMEMBER 
OF MY LIFE UP TO THE TENTH YEAR.. . .. 16 

CHAPTER II. 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE NEGROES AS SLAVES.- 

THEIR SUPERSTITIONS.-A BEAUTIFUL FAIRY TALE. 35 

CHAPTER III. 

MOVED TO WOODFORD COUNTY, KENTUCKY.-ALSO 

MOVED TO MISSOURI.-SAVED FROM BEING A 

THIEF.-MY CONVERSION.-GOING SOUTH AT 

OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR.-AN INCIDENT OF 

MY GIRLHOOD SCHOOL DAYS.-WHY I HAD TO BE¬ 
LIEVE IN REVELATION.-SPIRITUALISM OR WITCH¬ 
CRAFT.44 


CHAPTER IV. 

MY FIRST MARRIAGE.-A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 

-MOTHER GLOYD.-MY DRUGGED AND WHISKEY 

MURDERED HUSBAND.-LOSING MY POSITION AS 

TEACHER.-SECOND MARRIAGE.-LOSS OF PROP¬ 
ERTY.—KEEPING HOTEL.-STRUGGLES FOR DAILY 

FOOD.-THE AFFLICTIONS OF MY CHILD.-ANSWER 

TO PRAYER. 61 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BAPTISM OF TPIE HOLY GFIOST.-REJECTED AS A 

BIBLE TEACHER IN THE METHODIST AND EPISCOPA¬ 
LIAN CHURCHES.-TAUGHT IN HOTEL DINING¬ 
ROOM.-VISION, WARNING AND BLESSING.-EN- 






TERTAINING ANGELS.-THE JEWS.-PRAYER FOR 

RAIN AND ANSWER.-GOD'S JUDGMENT ON THE 

WICKED.-MOVED TO KANSAS.-DEATH OF MOT TI¬ 
ER GLOYD.-SERMON OF A CATHOLIC PRIEST. 83 

CHAPTER VI. 

WHY MY NAME IS NOT ON A CHURCH BOOK, AND 

WHY THE MINISTERS WITHDREW FROM ME.- 

CLOSING THE DIVES OF MEDICINE LODGE.-CORA 

BENNETT AND WHY SHE KILLED BILLY MORRIS IN 

A DIVE IN KIOWA.-HER RESURRECTION.-RAIDING 

A JOINT DRUG STORE.100 

CHAPTER VII. 

SPIRITUAL LEADINGS.—JESUS A CONSCIOUS PRES¬ 
ENCE THREE DAYS.-LOSS OF LIBERTY BY COM¬ 
PROMISING.-THE PRICE PAID TO BE REINSTATED. 

DISGRACE TO BE A MILLIONAIRE.115 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE DIVINE CALL.-THE JOINT DRUGGIST OF MED¬ 
ICINE LODGE.-BEER A POISON.-DOCTORS MAKE 

DRUNKARDS.-SMASHING AT KIOWA.-ATTITUDE 

OF SOME W. C. T. U.’S OF KANSAS.-SUIT FOR 

SLANDER.-SMASHING AT WICHITA.-CONSPIRACY 

OF THE REPUBLICANS TO PUT ME IN THE INSANE 

ASYLUM.-SUFFERING IN JAIL AT WICHITA.- 

SLANDERS FROM THE RUM-SOAICED PAPERS OF 
KANSAS.126 

CHAPTER IX. 

OUT OF JAIL FIRST TIME.-EGGS AND STONES.- 

SMASHING STILLING'S JOINT AT ENTERPRISE, 

KANSAS.-WHIPPED BY HIRED PROSTITUTES.- 

TLOT AT HOLT, KANSAS BY HOTEL KEEPER AND 
JOINTIST TO POISON AND SLUG ME.-MY HAND 






BROKEN AND HANDCUFFS USED.—FAINT FROM 
HUNGER.-HOW I CAME TO USE HATCHETS AS 


SOUVENIRS. 159 

CHAPTER X. 

LEGAL STATUS OF PROHIBITION AND JOINT SMASH¬ 
ING. 181 


CHAPTER XI. 

MY TRIAL FOR DIVORCE.-THE LICENSED RUM TRAF¬ 
FIC THE CAUSE OF SO MANY DIVORCES.-DIFFER¬ 
ENT TIMES AND PLACES I HAVE BEEN IN JAIL.- 

AT THE CAPITOL OF CALIFORNIA.-WIDE OPEN 

TREASON.-AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS.- 

WOOLLEY CLUB AT ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN.- 


CATHOLIC PRIEST AND CIGARETTES. 187 

CHAPTER XII. 

woman's MISSION FROM BIBLE STANDPOINT. 200 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE RIGHTS OF MOTHERS TO PROTECT THEIR CHIL¬ 
DREN. 205 


CHAPTER XIV. 

CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 211 

CHAPTER XV. 

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY FOR MY CHRISTIAN WORK. .220 

CHAPTER XVI. 

IN NEBRASKA.-WHAT I DID WITH THE FIRST MONEY 

I GAVE TO THE LORD.-AT CONEY ISLAND.-WHAT 

I SAID OF MR. MCKINLEY.—IN CALIFORNIA.- 

"CRIBS" AT LOS ANGELES.-ARREST IN SAN FRAN¬ 
CISCO.-CONDEMNED BY SOME MINISTERS.-—WHIS¬ 
KEY AND TOBACCO ADVERTISEMENTS.. .'.. 233 









CHAPTER XVII. 

MY VISIT TO WASHINGTON, D. C.-ARRESTED IN THE 

SENATE CHAMBER.-TAKEN OUT BY OFFICERS.- 

THE VICES OF COLLEGES, ESPECIALLY YALE.- 

ROOSEVELT A DIVE-KEEPER. 246 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

PROHIBITION OR ABOLITION.-WHAT IT MEANS. ... 254 

CHAPTER XIX. 

DR. MCFARLAND S PROTEST.-KICKED AND KNOCKED 

DOWN BY CHAPMAN OF BANGOR HOUSE.-MED¬ 
DLING WITH THE DEVIL.-TIMELY WARNING TO 

OUR BOYS AND GIRLS.-BRUBAKER OF PEORIA.- 

WITCHCRAFT.-ARRESTED AND PUT IN JAIL IN 

PHILADELPHIA.-THIRD TIME IN JAIL IN PITTS¬ 
BURG. 260 

CHAPTER XX. 

WHY I WENT ON THE STAGE.-VICE OF TOBACCO. . . .270 

CHAPTER XXI. 

TRIP ON FALL RIVER STEAMBOAT, FROM BOSTON TO 

NEW YORK.-OFFICERS TRIED TO LOCK ME IN MY 

STATEROOM.-SEQUEL SATISFACTORY, MADE PLEAS¬ 
ANT TRIP AND MANY FRIENDS... 278 

CHAPTER XXII. 

TRIP TO CANADA, CORDIAL RECEPTION.-RETURN TO 

CHICAGO TO FILL ENGAGEMENT.-SECOND VISIT TO 

CANADA.-TRIP TO MARITIME PROVINCES.-VISIT 

CLUB IN CHARLOTTETOWN.-PREJUDICE AGAINST 

ME OWING TO MALICIOUS REPORTS.-SPOKE IN 

PARLIAMENT IN FREDERICTON.-VISIT TO SIDNEY. 

-SCOTT ACT.-MY ARREST AND RELEASE.-EPI¬ 
SODE IN JAIL. 281 






CHAPTER XXIII. 

COWARDLY ASSAULT BY SALOON KEEPER G. R. NEIGH¬ 
BORS OF ELIZABETHTOWN, KY.-APATHY OF OF¬ 

FICERS, BUT PEOPLE MUCH MOVED BY OUTRAGE, 
LECTURED AFTERWARDS, THO' VERY FAINT AND 

WEAK FROM LOSS OF BLOOD.-CIGARETTE SMOKING 

IN HIGH PLACES DISCUSSED WITH MISS GASTON, 
PRESIDENT NATIONAL ANTI-CIGARETTE LEAGUE... 285 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

SISTER LUCY WILHOITE's VISION.-WRITES TO ME 

FOR CO-OPERATION IN MAKING RAID ON MAHAN S 
WHOLESALE LIQUOR HOUSE.—HESITATE ON AC¬ 
COUNT PRESSING ENGAGEMENTS AHEAD.-AN¬ 
SWERS THE CALL.-RAID SET FOR 29TH. -W. C. T. 

U. CONVENTION IN SESSION.-FOUR SISTERS AND 

MYSELF START FROM M. E. CHURCH.-A CALL FOR 

THE POLICE BEFORE WE COULD EFFECT AN EN¬ 
TRANCE.-TAKEN TO JAIL IN HOODLUM WAGON.- 

UNHEALTHY CONDITION OF CELL.-IN JAIL FROM 

FRIDAY TO MONDAY.-GOOD OLD PENTECOSTAL 

TIME ON SUNDAY.-COUNTY JAIL MONDAY.- 

TRIAL WEDNESDAY.-JAIL SENTENCE AND FINES. 

-APPEAL TO DISTRICT CUORT. 289 

CHAPTER XXV. 

SKETCH BY WILL CARLTON, IN HIS MAGAZINE, 

"everywhere.” . 29(5 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

ALCOHOL NOT A DRINK.-NOT A FOOD.-DR. N. S. 

DAVIS OF CHICAGO.-NANSEN OF NORWAY.-NOT 

A MEDICINE.-HOW IT ACTS ON THE HEART.— 

DOES NOT ALLAY PAIN.-CAUSES DISEASE.-AT- 




water's ERROR.-SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY ON 

BEER.302 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

MOVED TO OKLAHOMA.-PUBLISHERS OF THE "HOME 

defender" OBTAINING MONEY UNDER FALSE PRE¬ 
TENSES.-MY ARREST IN HOT SPRINGS, ARK.-AR¬ 
REST IN DENVER.-ONE OF THE DEEPEST SORROWS 

OF MY LIFE.319 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

WASHINGTON.-SPEAKING IN CONVENTION HALL.- 

PICTURE OF THE HOME GIVEN ME BY MR. DON 
SANFORD.-WASHINGTON LAWLESSNESS.-ARREST¬ 
ED AND FINED.-CONFINED IN WORK HOUSE.- 

PROVIDENTIALLY RELEASED.328 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

HOLDING UP MY JULY ISSUE OF THE HATCHET.- 

TRIAL AND ARREST IN DALLAS, TEXAS.-A TRIBUTE 

FROM AN OLD CITIZEN OF CHATTANOOGA.-DUR¬ 

HAM FACTORY IN NORTH CAROLINA AND EDUCAT¬ 
ING METHODIST PREACHERS.-THE DEADLY CIGAR¬ 
ETTE.343 


MASONRY AS IT IS. 

MASONRY AS IT IS.—COMPACT OF EVIL.-P’OE TO WO¬ 
MAN.-EXPERIENCES OF A ROYAL ARCH MASON.- 

FOE TO TRUE MANHOOD.-DRESS OF CADIDATES.- 

MASONIC PREACHERS.-HORRIBLE DEATH PENAL¬ 
TIES.-PURELY ANTI-CHRISTIAN.-ITS OATHS IL¬ 
LEGAL.-CLAIM OF SECRECY A SWINDLE.-ITS 

CHARITY A FRAUD.-SHIELDS CRIMINALS.-A LIE 


ALL OVER.-SECRECY AND SIN.. . ..356 

POETRY.387 


i 








The Use and Need of the Life of 
Carry A. Nation. 


CHAPTER I. 

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME AND WHAT I REMEMBER OF 
MY LIFE UP TO THE TENTH YEAR. 

I was born in Garrard County, Kentucky, Nov. 25, 
1846. My father’s farm was on Dick’s river, where 
the cliffs rose up hundreds of feet, with great ledges 
of rocks, under which I used to sit. There were many 
large rocks scattered around, some as much as fifteen 
feet across, with holes that held water, where my 
father salted his stock, and I, a little toddler, used to 
follow him. On the side of the house next to the cliffs 
was what we called the “Long House,” where the 
negro women would spin and weave. There were 
wheels, little and big, and a loom or two, and swifts 
and reels, and winders, and everything for making 
linen for the summer, and woolen cloth for the winter, 
both linsey and jeans. The flax was raised on the 
place, and so were the sheep. When a child 5 years 
old, I used to bother the other spinners. I was so 
anxious to learn to spin, so my father had a small 
wheel made for me by a wright in the neighborhood. 
I was very jealous of my wheel, and would spin on it 


2 



18 


THE USE AtfD NE£D OF 


for hours. The colored women were always indul¬ 
gent to me, and made the proper sized rolls, so I could 
spin them. I would double the yarn, and then twist 
it, and knit it into suspenders, which was a great 
source of pride to my father, who would display my 
work to visitors on every occasion. 

The dwelling house had ten rooms, all except one 
on the ground floor. I have heard my father say that 
it was a hewed-log house, weather-boarded and plas¬ 
tered. The room that possessed the most attraction 
for me was the parlor, because I was very seldom al¬ 
lowed to go in it. I remember the large gold-leaf 
paper on the walls, its bright brass dogirons, as tall as 
myself, and the furniture of red plush, some of which 
is in a good state of preservation, and the property of 
my half-brother, Tom Moore, who lives on “Camp 
Dick Robinson,” in Garrard County. (This Dick Rob¬ 
inson was a cousin of my father’s.) There were two 
sets of negro cabins; one in which Betsey and Henry, 
who were man and wife, lived, Betsey being the nurse 
of all the children. Then there was aunt Mary and 
her large family, aunt Judy and her family and aunt 
Eliza and her’s. There was a water mill behind and 
almost a quarter of a mile from the house, where the 
corn was ground, and near that was the overseer’s 
house. 

Standing on the front porch, we looked through a 
row of althea bushes, white and purple, arid there were 
on each side cedar trees that were quite large in my 
day. There was an old-fashioned stile, instead of a 
gate, and a long avenue, as wide as Kansas Avenue, 
in Topeka, with forest trees on either side, that led 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


19 


down to the big road, across which uncle Isaac Dunn 
lived. Mr. Dunn was a widower with two children, 
Sallie and Dave. I remember Sallie had very many 
different kinds of dolls and I used to love to go down 
to play with them. 

To the left of our house was the garden. I have 
read of the old-fashioned garden, the garden written 
about and the gardens sung about, but I have never 
seen a garden that could surpass the garden of my old 
home. Just inside the pickets were bunches of bear 
grass. Then, there was the purple flag, that bordered 
the walks; the thyme, coriander, calamus and sweet 
Mary; the jasmine climbing over the picket fence; the 
syringa and bridal wreath; roses black, red, yellow 
and pink; and many other kinds of roses and shrubs. 
There, too, were strawberries, raspberries, gooseber¬ 
ries and currants; damson and greengages, and apri¬ 
cots, that grew on vines. I could take some time in 
describing this beautiful spot. 

At the side of the garden was the family burying 
ground, where the gravestones were laid flat on ma¬ 
sonry, bringing them about three feet from the 
ground. These stones were large, flat slabs of marble, 
and I used to climb up on top and sit or lie down, and 
trace the letters or figures with my fingers. I visited 
this graveyard in 1903. The eight graves were there 
in a good state of preservation, with not a slab broken, 
although .my grandfather was buried there, ninety 
years ago. My father had a stone wall built around 
these graves for protection, when he left Kentucky. 
I am glad that family graveyards have given place to 
public cemeteries, for this place has changed hands 


20 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


many times and this graveyard is not pleasant for the 
strangers who live there. We, who are interested in 
these sacred mounds, feel like intruders having the 
homes of our dead with strangers. 

The memories of this Kentucky home date from the 
time I was three years old. It seems remarkable, but 
my mother said an incident occurred when I was three 
years old, and I remember it distinctly. I was stand¬ 
ing in the back yard, near the porch. Mr. Brown, the 
overseer, was in the door of my half-brother Richard’s 
room, with my brother’s gun in his hands. At the end 
of the porch was a small room, called the “saddle 
room.” A pane of glass was out of the window and 
a hen flew out, cackling. Aunt Judy, the colored wo¬ 
man, went in to get the egg, and walked in front of 
Mr. Brown, who raised the gun and said: “Judy, I 
am going to shoot you,” not thinking the gun was 
loaded. It went off, and Aunt Judy fell. Mr. Brown 
began to wring his hands and cry—in great agony. I 
screamed and kept running around a small tree near 
by. This was. Sunday morning. Runners were sent 
for the doctor, and for my parents, who were at 
church. Aunt Judy got well, but had one eye out; 
we could always feel the shot in her forehead. She 
was one of the best servants, and a dear good friend 
to me. She used to bring two of her children and 
come up to my room on Sundays and sit with me, say¬ 
ing, she did not want to be in the cabin when “strange 
niggers were there.” This accident had disfigured her 
face and she always avoided meeting people. I can 
see her now, with one child at her breast, and another 
at her knee, with her hand on its head, feeling for 



MY OLD HOME WHERE I WAS BORN IN GARRARD CO., KENTUCKY. 



THE OLD GRAVE YARD NEAR BY, AND MY GRANDFATHERS GRAVE 















22 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


“buggars.” I was very much attached to this woman 
and wanted to take care of her in her old age. I went 
to Southern Texas to get her in 1873. I found some 
of her children in Sherman, Texas, but aunt Judy had 
been dead six months. She had said she wanted to 
live with me. 

My mother always left her small children in the care 
of the servants. I was quite a little girl before I was 
allowed to eat at “white folk’s table.” Once when my 
mother had been away several days and came home 
bringing a lot of company with her, I ran out when 
I saw the carriages driving up, and cried: “Oh, ma, 
I am so glad to see you. I don’t mind sleeping with 
aunt Eliza, but I do hate to sleep with uncle Josh.” I 
was quite dirty, and some of the colored servants 
snatched me out of sight. Aunt Eliza was aunt Judy’s 
half-sister, her father was a white man. She was 
given to my father by my grandmother, was very 
bright and handsome, and the mother of seventeen 
children. My grandmother remembered aunt Eliza in 
her will, giving her some linen sheets, furniture, and 
other things. 

One of aunt Eliza’s sons was named Newton. My 
father had a mill and store up in Lincoln County, near 
Hustonsville. Newton used to do the hauling for my 
father with a large wagon and six-mule team. He 
would often do the buying for the store and take 
measurements of grain, and my father trusted him im¬ 
plicitly. Once a friend of my father said to him, as 
Newton was passing along the street with his team: 
“George, I’ll give you seventeen hundred dollars for 
that negro.” Father said: “If you would fill that 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


23 


wagon-bed full of gold, you could not get him.” A 
few weeks after that Newton died. I remember see¬ 
ing my father in the room weeping, and remember the 
chorus of the song the negroes sang on that occasion: 
“Let us sit down and chat with the angels.” 

The husband of aunt Eliza was “uncle Josh,” a small 
Guinea negro, as black as coal and very peculiar. I 
always stood in awe of him, as all the children did. I 
remember one expression of his was: “Get out of the 
way, or I’ll knock you into a cocked hat.” The reason 
I had to sleep with aunt Eliza, was that Betsy, my 
nurse, was only ten years older than I was. Betsy was 
a girl given by my grandfather Campbell to my mother 
when my father and mother were married. My 
mother was a widow when she married my father. 
She had married Will Caldwell, a son of Capt. Cald¬ 
well, who died in Sangamon County, Ill., he had freed 
his negroes and moved there from Kentucky. Will 
Caldwell died after three years, leaving my mother 
with two children. Both of them died at my grand¬ 
father Compbell’s in Mercer County, Kentucky, be¬ 
fore she married my father. 

I was about four years old when my grandmother 
Moore died. She lived on a farm in Garrard County, 
about two miles from my father. She used to ride a 
mare called “Kit.” Whenever we would see grandma 
coming up the avenue, the whole lot of children, white 
and black, ran to meet her. She always carried on the 
horn of her saddle a handbag, then called a “reticule,” 
and in that she always brought us some little treat, 
generally, a cut off, of a loaf of sugar, that used to 
be sold in the shape of a long loaf of bread. We 


24 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


would follow her down to the stile, where she would 
get off, and delight us all by taking something good 
to eat out of the “reticule.” We would tie old Kit, 
and then take our turn in petting the colt. The first 
grief I remember to have had was when I heard of 
the death of my grandmother. I wanted to see her 
so badly and go to the funeral, and for weeks I would 
go off by myself and cry about her death. I used to 
love to lie and sit on her grave at the back of the 
garden. Older people often forget the sorrows of 
childhood, but I felt keenly the injustice of not being 
allowed to see her dead face and do so to this day. 

We left that home, when I was about five years old, 
for a place about two miles from Danville, Kentucky. 
The house had a flat roof, the first one built in that 
county; it had an observatory on top. Our nearest 
neighbors were Mr. Banford’s family, Mr. Caldwell, 
and Mr. Spears. Dr. Jackson and Dr. Smith were 
both our physicians, and my father used to hire his 
physicians by the year. Dr. Jackson was a bachelor. 
He said he was going to wait for me, and I believed 
him. I remember visiting Dr. Smith in Danville and 
seeing a human skeleton for the first time. I also saw 
leeches he used in bleeding. I remember when one 
of my little brothers was born, they told me Dr. Smith 
found him in a hollow stump. After that I spent 
hours out in the woods looking in hollow stumps for 
babies. How wrong for parents to tell children false¬ 
hoods about their birth. 

My mother’s father was James Campbell, born in 
King and Queens County, Virginia. His parents were 
from Scotland. He was married twice. By his first 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


25 


wife he had two sons, William and Whitaker. Wil¬ 
liam married and died young, left one child, a daugh¬ 
ter. Uncle “Whit” lived to be an old man. The sec¬ 
ond time my grandfather married a Miss Bradshaw. 
He had four sons and six daughters. I used to stay 
at grandmam’s with my aunt Sue. When my mother 
would take long trips or visits, she would send the 
younger children, with my nurse Betsy, over there to 
stay until she returned. The only cross word, that my 
grandfather ever gave me, was when I was running 
upstairs and stumbled and he said: “Jump up, and try 
it again, my daughter.” I was so humiliated by the 
rebuke that I hid from him for several days. He was 
a Baptist deacon for years. When gentlemen called 
on my aunts, he would go in the parlor at 10 o’clock 
in the evening and wind the big clock. He would then 
ask the young men if he should have their horses put 
up. This was the signal to either retire or leave. He 
never went to bed until everyone else had retired. My 
grandfather lived in Mercer County, not far from 
Harrodsburg. My grandmother was an invalid for 
years, and kept her room. Mv aunt Sue was house¬ 
keeper. In the dining room was a large fireplace. The 
teakettle was brought in at breakfast, water was boiled 
by being set on a “trivet,” over some coals of fire. 

Every morning my grandfather would put in a glass 
some sugar, butter and brandy, then pour hot water 
over it, and, while the family were sitting around the 
room, waiting for breakfast, he would go to each, and 
give to those who wished, a spoonful of this toddy, 
saying: “Will you have a taste, my daughter, or my 
son?” He never gave but one spoonful, and then he 


26 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


drank what was left himself. This custom was never 
omitted. I remember the closet where the barrel of 
spirits was kept. He used to give it out to the colored 
people in a pint cup on Saturdays. Persons have often 
said to me: “Our grandfathers used it, and they did 
not get drunk.” Truly, we are reaping what they have 
strewn. They sowed to the wind and we are reaping 
the whirlwind. 

After breakfast, the colored man, Patrick, who wait¬ 
ed on my grandfather, would bring out a horse and 
grandfather would ride around the place. He was 
very fond of hunting, and always kept hounds. My 
father would tell this joke on him. When “Daddy” 
Rice was baptizing him in Dick’s River grandpa said: 
“Hold on, Father Rice, I hear Sounder barking on the 
cliffs.” Sounder was his favorite hound. There was 
a Mr. Britt who was a great fox hunter, who lived 
near my grandfather, and whose wife was opposed to 
his hunting. One morning my grandfather went by 
Mr. Britt’s house winding his hunter’s horn. Mr. 
Britt jumped for his trousers and so did Mrs. Britt, 
who got them first and threw them into the fire. An¬ 
other time, quite a party of ladies and gentlemen had 
gathered at my grandfather’s place, to go on a fox 
hunt. Grandfather went upstairs hurriedly to put on 
his buckskin suit. He jumped across the banisters to 
facilitate matters, lost his balance and tumbled down 
into the hall where the company was waiting. He did 
not get hurt, it was a great joke on him. When he 
was a young man he learned carpentering in company 
with Buckner Miller, who was of the same trade. 
These two young men came to Kentucky from Vir- 


MY FATHER, GEO. MOORE. 












28 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


ginia, on horseback, seeking their fortunes. They had 
many experiences, always endeavoring to stop at 
houses for the night where there were young ladies. 

My father’s name was George Moore, and his 
father’s name was Martin Moore. He was of Irish 
descent. He had two brothers who died when the 
cholera raged in Kentucky, about 1842. One of them, 
William Moore, married a Miss Blackburn of Ver¬ 
sailles, Kentucky. He had several sisters, some Of 
them died young. 

Mark Antony, in his memorial address over the 
body of Caesar, said that Brutus was Caesar’s angel. 
If I ever had an angel on earth, it was my father. I 
have met many men who had lovable characters, but 
none equaled him in my estimation. He was not a 
saint, but a man—one of the noblest works of God. 
He was impetuous, quick, impatient, but never nerv¬ 
ous, could collect himself in a moment and was always 
master of the situation. I have seen him in many try¬ 
ing places but never remember to have seen him in a 
condition of being afraid. When he lived in Cass 
County, Missouri, during the war, we saw Quantrell’s 
men coming up to the house. These men were dressed 
in slouch hats, gray suits, and had their guns and 
haversacks roped to their saddles. My father was a 
union man, but a southern sympathizer. He cried like 
a child when he heard the south had seceded and taken 
another flag. He did not know to what extent he was 
disliked by this gang of bushwhackers, and we were 
very much alarmed; fully expected some harm was 
meant. Men on both sides were frequently taken out 
and shot down. When the Bushwhackers would kill 


THE LIPE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


29 


a union man then the Jayhawkers would kill “a 
secesh.” 

My father said to us: “You stay in the house and 
keep quiet. I will meet them.” I watched him through 
a window. He was tall and straight as an Indian. He 
walked up to them taking his hat off and called “Good 
morning” to them in a friendly tone. Asked them to 
get off their horses, for he had a treat for them. In 
the corner of the yard was the carriage house and un¬ 
der that was a rock spring house, through which a 
living stream of water ran around the pans of milk. 
He took them to the door, gave them seats, then went 
in this milkhouse and brought out a jar of buttermilk. 
I have heard it said that buttermilk is one of the great¬ 
est treats to a soldier. He talked with these men as 
if they had been friends; brought out fruit; loaded 
them with bread, butter and milk; and they left with¬ 
out even taking a horse from us. I fully believe it 
was their intention to do some harm, but by the tact 
of my father they were disarmed. “A soft answer 
turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir 
up strife.” He was a thorough business man, but his 
social qualities exceeded all others. He often had to 
pay security debts, one for Mr. Key, his brother-in- 
law, of five thousand dollars. Just before the election 
of Lincoln, he took a large drove of mules to Natchez, 
Mississippi, twenty-two of these mules were of his 
own raising. While there Lincoln was elected, which 
threw the south into war. He sold the mules on time 
and never got a dollar for them. To the honor of my 
father be it said, he gave up all his property to pay his 
debts, never withholding, where he could have done 


30 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


so. A short while before he died there was one debt 
of a few hundred dollars he could not pay. He wept 
and told me of this. A year ago I settled up with Mr. 
Will’s heirs and paid this debt to his children, who live 
near Peculiar in Cass County, Missouri. It would be 
such a joy to my father to know that I did this to save 
his honor. When I see him, in our heavenly home, 
he will bless me for this. “Love knows no sacrifice.” 

I cannot call to mind when the thought of self, gov¬ 
erned any of my father’s actions. It was his delight 
to provide for the comfort of others. Devoted to his 
family and friends, and such a friend to the poor; I 
have heard my mother say that he made every one 
rich who worked for him. When I first remember him 
he was a “Trader” and left his farm to an overseer. 
My father drove hogs to Cincinnati before there were 
any railways. I was always at his heels, when I could 
be. He was standing on the stile one day giving direc¬ 
tions to have a drove of hogs meet him at a certain 
place on Sunday. I said: “Pa, you will lose on those 
hogs. You ought not to do that on Sunday.” He 
gave me a quick, light, playful slap, saying: “Stop 
that, every time you say that, I do lose.” 

I can see that a responsibility to God was the funda¬ 
mental principle in my father’s life. After the negroes 
were freed, and we lived on the farm, there was so 
much to do, especially for him, but there was always 
a conveyance prepared to take his family to church and 
Sunday School—I took the “New York Ledger.” 
Mrs. Southworth wrote for it then. “Capitola,” The 
Wrecker’s Son, with other thrilling stories, were so 
fascinating to me—the paper came late Saturday and 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


31 


I would rather read it Sunday morning than go any¬ 
where. One morning I took my paper and went to 
the back of the orchard, thinking to get out of the 
sound of my father’s voice when he would call me to 
get ready for church. I could just hear him but did 
not move. After reading my paper, I returned to the 
house, Pa was just coming back with the rest of the 
family from church. He looked at me with grief and 
anger in his glance and said, “Never mind, you un¬ 
grateful girl, you cannot say at the Judgment Day, 
that your father did not provide a way for you to go 
to church.” I never did this again and never was free 
from remorse for this ingratitude. I know how Dr. 
Johnson felt when he was seen standing on a corner 
of the street with the sun beaming down upon his bare 
head, when asked why he did that he said, “My father 
had a book stand on this corner, when I was a boy 
once he asked me to stand here in his place as he was 
sick. I would not, now I would expitate that by blis¬ 
tering my bare head in the sun if I could. To this day 
I weep to think of grieving so noble a parent. 

My mother was a very handsome woman. My 
father was good looking. I was very anxious to look 
like him; used to try to wear off my teeth on the right 
side, because his were worn off. About two years be¬ 
fore he died, he came to Texas to visit me. I was then 
in the hotel business. During the first meal he ate at 
the hotel, he looked up and seeing me waiting on the 
table, he got up and began waiting on the table him¬ 
self. I had to work very hard then and it was a grief 
to him to have no money to give me. One morning he 
came into my room while I was dressing and said: 


32 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


“Daughter, I have not slept all night for thinking of 
you. The last thing last night was you in the kitchen 
and the first thing this morning. I have always hoped 
to have something to leave you, and it is such a grief to 
me that I cannot help you. Carry, it seems the Lord 
has been so hard on you,” I said: “No, Pa; I thank 
God for all my sorrows. They have been the best for 
me, and don’t you worry about not leaving me money, 
for you have left me something far better.” He look¬ 
ed up surprised and said: “What is it?” I answered: 
“The memory of a father who never did a dishonor¬ 
able act.” My father’s eyes filled with tears, and after 
that he seemed to be happier than I had ever seen 
him; everything seemed to go right. 

My father was a very indulgent master to his col¬ 
ored servants, who loved him like a father. They al¬ 
ways called him “Mars George.” The negro women 
would threaten to get “Mars George” to whip their 
bad children, and when he whipped them, I have heard 
them say: “Served you right. Did not give you a lick 
amiss.” This was proving their great confidence, they 
being willing for some one else to whip their children. 
They were very sensitive in this matter and were not 
willing for my mother to do this. My father would 
lay in a supply, while in Cincinnati, of boxes of boots 
and shoes, and get combs, head handkerchiefs, and 
Sunday dresses, which would greatly delight his col¬ 
ored people. Happy, indeed, would the negroes have 
been if all their masters had been as my father was. 

When we moved to Mercer County from Garrard, 
we had a sale. It was customary then at such a time 
to have a barbecue and a great dinner. The tables 


THIS IS A PICTURE OF MYSELF AND SISTER EDNA, SITTING ON EACH SIDE OF OUR MOTHER 1 AM ON THF LEFT 

AND WAS ABOUT SIX YEARS OLD. 













34 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


were set in the yard. I remember Mr. Jones Adams, 
a neighbor and great friend of my father, brought 
over a two bushel sack of turnip greens and a ham. 
I remember seeing him shake them out of the bag. 
At this sale for the first, and only time, I saw a negro 
put on a block and sold to the highest bidder. I can’t 
understand how my father could have allowed this. 
His name was “Big Bill,” to distinguish him from an¬ 
other “Bill.” He was a widower, and had no family. 
There was one colored man my father valued highly, 
and wanted to take with him, but this man, Tom, had 
a wife, who belonged to a near neighbor. After we 
got in the carriage to go to our new home, Tom fol¬ 
lowed us crying: “Oh, Mars George, don’t take me 
from my wife.” My father said: “Go and get some 
one to buy you.” This Tom did, the buyer being a 
Mr. Dunn. Oh ! What a sad sight; it makes the tears 
fill my eyes to write it. 

But a worse slavery is now on us. I would rather 
have my son sold to a slave-driver than to be a victim 
of a saloon. I could, in the first case, hope to see him 
in heaven; but no drunkard can inherit eternal life. 
The people of the south said no power could take from 
them their slaves, but ’tis a thing of the past. People 
now say, you can’t shut up saloons. But our children 
will know them as a thing of the past. My father was 
glad when the slaves were free. He felt the responsi¬ 
bility of owning them. Have heard him say, after 
having some trouble with them: “Those negroes will 
send me to hell yet.” He would gather them in the 
dining-room Sunday evenings and read the Bible to 
them and have prayer. He would first call aunt Liza 
and ask her to have them come in. The negroes would 
sing, and it is a sweet memory to me. 


CHAPTER II. 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE NEGROES AS SLAVES.-THEIR 

SUPERSTITIONS.-A BEAUTIFUL FAIRY TALE. 

The colored race, as I knew them, were generally 
kind to the white children of their masters. Their 
sympathy was great in childish troubles. When we 
were sick they nursed us. Their lullabies soothed us 
to sleep. Very frequently my nurse would hold me in 
her arms until both of us would fall asleep, but she 
would still hold me securely. When any of my mis¬ 
doings came to the ears of my parents, and I was pun¬ 
ished, their testimony would, as far as possible, shield 
me, and not until I would try their patience out of all 
bounds would they tell my mother on me. I never 
heard a negro express infidel views, even if wicked. 
They had firm belief in God and a devil. I always 
liked their meetings, their songs and shoutings. They 
always told me that no one could help shouting. The 
first time I ever heard a white woman shout was in 
Northern Texas, during the war. I did not wish the 
spirit to cause me to jump up and clap my hands that 
way, for these impulses were not in my carnal heart, 
so, for fear I should be compelled to do so, I held my 
dress down tight to the seat on each side, to prevent 
me from jumping up. The negroes are great readers 
of character; despise stingy people or those who were 
afraid of them. These colored friends taught me the 
fear of God. The first time I ever attended church, I 
rode behind my nurse on horseback, and sat with them 


36 THE USE AND NEED OF 

in the gallery. I imbibed some of their superstitions. 
They consider it bad to allow a sharp tool, as a spade, 
hoe or ax, to be taken through the house; to throw 
salt in the fire, for you would have to pick it out after 
death. They would kill a hen if she crowed; looked 
for a death, if a dog howled; or, if one broke a look- 
ing-glass, it meant trouble of some kind for seven 
years. They believed that persons had power to put 
a “spell” on others, would, if taken sick, frequently 
speak of having “stepped on something” put in their 
way or buried in their dooryard. 

There is no dialect in the world that has the original 
characteristics so pleasing to the ear as the negro. 
There is a softness and music in the voice of a negro 
not to be found in any other race. No one can sing a 
child to sleep so soothingly as a negro nurse. After 
I left Texas and went to Medicine Lodge, Kansas, 
when I had a headache or was otherwise sick, I would 
wish that one of the old-fashioned colored women, 
would rub me with their rough plump hands 
and call me “Honey Chile,” and would bathe my feet 
and tuck the cover around me and sit by me, holding 
my hand, waiting until I fell asleep. I owe much to 
the colored people and never want to live where there 
are none of the negro race. I would feel lonesome 
without them. After I came to Medicine Lodge, I did 
not see any for some time. One day, while looking 
out, I saw one walking up the street toward the house. 
I ran to the kitchen, cut an apple pie, and ran out and 
said: “Here, Uncle, is a piece of pie.” He was gray¬ 
headed, one of the old slaves. He seemed so glad to 
see my friendly face and took the pie with a happy 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


37 


courtesy. I watched for his return, as he came in on 
the train, and was going out. At last he came. I in¬ 
vited him in the kitchen, fixed a meal for him, and 
waited on him myself. Before eating, he folded his 
hands, closed his eyes, with his face toward heaven, 
thanked God for the food, as I had often seen them 
do in slave time. As a race, the negroes have not the 
characteristics of treachery. They are faithful and 
grateful. 

In my hotel experience, I would often ask Fannie, 
my cook: “What kind of a man is that?” Fannie 
would say: “Don’t trust him too far Mrs. Nation, he 
steps too light.” When a child my playmates were 
colored children. Betsy came to the table with the 
children and ate with us. But the sweetest food was 
that left in the skillets, both black and white children 
would go around the house, sit down and “sop” the 
gravy with the biscuits the cooks would give us. I 
was fond of hearing ghost stories and would, without 
the knowledge of my mother, stay in the cabin late at 
night listening to the men and women telling their “ex¬ 
periences.” The men would be making ax handles 
and beating the husk off of the corn in a large wooden 
hopper with a maul. The women would be spinning 
with the little wheel, sewing, knitting and combing 
their children’s heads. I would listen until my teeth 
would chatter with fright, and would shiver more and 
more, as they would tell of the sights in grave-yards, 
the spirits of tyrannical masters, walking at night, 
with their chains clanking and the sights of hell, where 
some would be on gridirons, some hung up to baste 
and the devil with his pitchfork would toss the poor 


38 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


creatures hither and thither. They would say: “Carry, 
you must go to the house,” and I would not go with 
one, but must have two, one on each side of me. I 
remember seeing the negro men laugh at me, but the 
women would shake their heads and say:: “You better 
quit skeering that chile.” But there was one pleasure 
above all the rest, it was to hear anyone tell “tales.” 
When my mother would have a visitor, very frequent¬ 
ly the lady would bring a nurse to care for the chil¬ 
dren, she brought with her. Oh, how pleased the black 
and white children would be to see such visitors! We 
would give them doll-rags, nuts, or apples, and in 
many ways express our delight at having them come. 
As soon as they were made comfortable, the next 
thing was: “Tell us a tale.” And seating ourselves 
around on the floor, or in a close group, we would be 
all attention. Of course the stories would be about 
raw heads and bloody bones, but not so much so as 
the stories told at night in the cabins. 

One of the prettiest stories I ever heard, and never 
tired of hearing, that taught me a great moral, was 
about two girls the children of a couple who were 
hard working people. One of the girls was named 
Sarah, the other Mary. Sarah was a very pretty girl 
with curls. Mary was rather ugly and had straight 
hair. Curls in my childhood days were something 
very much sought for. Although Sarah was pretty 
she had very rude ways; she would not speak kindly 
and politely; would not help her hard working mother ; 
but was idle and quarrelsome, always wanted some 
one to wait on her; while Mary was the reverse; she 
would pick up chips to make a fire, would sweep the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


39 


yard and bring water, and was kind to all, especially 
sa to her mother. One day the well went dry and 
there was no water to make the tea for supper. Mary 
saw her mother crying and said: “Don’t cry, mother; 
I will go and get some at the Haunted Spring.” 

Her mother said: “Oh, no, dear sweet child, those 
goblins will kill you.” 

“No, mother,” replied Mary. “I will beg them to 
let me have some water for dear father, and I am not 
afraid.” 

So her mother got a light bucket for her, .and went 
to the top of the hill with her, and said: “God bless 
you, my dear child, and bring you back to me.” 

Then Mary went on until she came to the high iron 
gate. She said: “Please.gate open and let me through. 
I mind my father and mother and love everybody.” 

And the gate opened and she passed into the “haunt¬ 
ed” grounds. She saw a funny, little, short man come 
running with a stick and said: “Please, nice man, don't 
hit me. I have come down to get some good water 
to make tea for my father’s supper. He has been 
working all day, and our well has gone dry. May I 
please have some of your spring water?” 

“Well, little girl, as you talk so nicely, you can have 
some. Tell the little folks to open the briars for you.” 

So she went on and came to a briar patch and saw 
down at the roots some little people, not much longer 
than your finger. Mary spoke so kindly to them; said 
she would be so glad if they would open a path for her 
to walk in, she would thank them so much; that they 
began to pull the briars back until there was a good 
path. Mary thanked them and went on until she came 


40 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


to the spring and there was a rabbit jumping up and 
down in it. Mary said: “Please Mr. Rabbit, don’t 
muddy the water for I would like to get a bucket of 
nice clear water to take home to make tea for supper.” 
The rabbit ran off and she dipped her bucket full of 
pure water. 

Then she looked down the bank, and there was a 
little lamb that had fallen in and was lying down, and 
could not get up. The lamb said: “Little girl, please 
pick me up and lay me on the grass to dry.” Mary 
stepped on some rocks till she got to the lamb and 
lifted him up and laid him on the bank to dry. The 
lamb said: “When you go home, spit in your mother’s 
hand.” Mary thought that would not be right, but 
she said nothing. She went back through the briar 
patch and the little folks held them from scratching 
her. and the little old man spoke nicely to her and the 
gate opened for her. Her mother was watching for 
her and helped her home with the water, kissed her, 
and prepared a good supper. 

While they were sitting at the table Mary said: 
“Mother, the little lamb told me to do something I do 
not like to do.” 

“What was it?” 

“He told me to spit in your hand.” 

“Well, you can my child ; come on and the mother 
held out her hand and Mary spat a diamond and a 
pearl in it. This made the family happy and rich. 
The next day they had men come and dig a new well. 

Now Sarah wished to try her fortune, her mother 
did not want her to go, because she knew what a bad, 
saucy girl she was, but Sarah said she would do as 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


41 


well as Mary. Her sister told her how she must do, 
but she got angry at her, and said: “You mind your 
own business ; I reckon I know what I am about.” 

So she took her bucket and went on until she came 
to the gate; she gave that a kick and said: “Open 
gate!” and the gate opened and slammed on her. The 
little old man came running with his stick. Sarah 
said: “Don’t you hit me, old man; I’ll tell my father.” 
And the old man beat her and the little folks pushed 
up the briar bushes so she tore her clothes and scratch¬ 
ed herself badly. The little rabbit was in the spring 
and he jumped up and down and she threw at him, 
telling him she would knock his head off; but the rab¬ 
bit jumped up and down ’till the spring was a lob-lolly 
of mud, so she had to take muddy water in her bucket. 
The little lamb had gotten back into the branch and 
said: “Please, little girl, pick me up and put me on the 
bank to dry.” 

But Sarah said: “I won’t do it.” 

The lamb replied: “Spit in your mother’s hand when 
you go home.” 

So Sarah had to go through the briars, that scratch¬ 
ed her, and the old man beat her, and the gate slammed 
on her, and when her mother met her she was a 
“sight.” Her face was dirty, her dress torn, her legs 
and arms were scratched and bleeding, and her curly 
hair was in a mass of tangles. Her mother washed the 
dirt off and scolded her for being so naughty. Mary 
helped to wash and dress her for supper. Then they 
all sat down to eat, and every one was happy but 
Sarah. 


42 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Sarah said: “Mother, the lamb told me to spit in 
your hand.” 

“Very well, come on,” answered the mother. So 
Sarah spat in her mother’s hand and out jumped a liz¬ 
ard and a frog. 

A child ever so small will see the moral, and that, 
I never forgot. Of course the pearls and the diamonds 
are the politeness and kindness, which is so beautiful 
in children; and the lizard and the frog are rudeness 
and impudence. Very often the nurse would say: 
“Look here, you Sarah, you.” 

I remember how shocked I would be to think I 
would ever be like that naughty Sarah. 

A positive indication of a corrupt age is the lack of 
respect children have for parents. This largely owing 
to the neglect of teachers. I am heartily thankful I 
was taught to say “Yes ma’am,” and “No, ma’am,” 
“Yes, sir, and No, sir.” Now it is—“Yah! Yes, No, 
What, etc” Nothing is a greater letter of credit than 
politeness and it costs nothing. ’Tis not the child’s 
fault but the parents and teachers. 

I was, when a child, always doing something; was 
very fond of climbing; seemed to have a mania for it. 
I never saw a tall tree that I did not try to climb, or 
wish I could. I used to run bareheaded over the fields 
and woods with the other children, lifting up rocks 
and logs to look at the bugs and worms. When we 
found a dead chicken, bird, rat or mouse, we would 
have a funeral. I would usually be the preacher and 
we would kneel down and while one prayed, the rest 
would look through their fingers, to see what the 
others were doing. We would sing and clap our hands 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


43 


and shake hands, then we would play: “Come and see/’ 

I never had but one doll that was bought. It was 
given to me by Dr. Jackson for taking my medicine, 
when I was sick. We made rag dolls out of dresses. 
My delight was to have one of the colored women's 
babies. We would go visiting and take our dolls, and 
would tell of the dreadful times we had and of how 
mean our husbands were to the children; sometimes 
one would tell of how good instead. And then we 
would catch bees in the althea blooms. One of the 
delightful pastimes was to make mud cakes and put 
them on boards to dry. We had some clay that we 
could mould anything out of—all kinds of animals, and 
indeed, there were shapes worked out by little fingers 
never seen before. 

The race question is a serious one. The kindly feel¬ 
ing between black and white is giving place to bitter¬ 
ness with the rising generations. One reason of this 
seems to be a jealousy of the whites for fear the 
negroes will presume to be socially equal with them. 
The negro race should avoid this, should not desire it, 
it would be of no real value to them. They are a dis¬ 
tinct race with characteristics which they need not 
wish to exchange. When a negro tries to imitate 
white folks, he is a mongrel. I will say to my colored 
brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus; Never depart 
from your race lines and bearings, keep true to your 
nature, your simplicity, and happy disposition—and 
above all come back to the “Oldtime” religion, you 
will never strand on that rock. 


CHAPTER III. 

MOVED TO WOODFORD COUNTY, KENTUCKY.-ALSO 

MOVED TO MISSOURI.-SAVED FROM BEING A THIEF.- 

MY CONVERSION.-GOING SOUTH AT OPENING OF THE 

CIVIL WAR.-AN INCIDENT OF MY GIRLHOOD SCHOOL 

DAYS.-WHY I HAD TO BELIEVE IN REVELATION.- 

SPIRITUALISM OR WITCHCRAFT. 

In 1854, we moved to Woodford County, Kentucky, 
and bought a farm from Mr. Hibler, on the pike, be¬ 
tween Midway and Versailles. Mr. Warren Viley 
was our nearest neighbor. My father was one of the 
trustees in building the Orphans’ Home at Midway. 
Here in Midway I attended Sunday School and I had 
a very faithful teacher who taught me the Word of 
God. I have forgotten her name but I can see her 
sweet face now, as she planted seed in my heart that 
are still bringing forth fruit. 

A minister came to our house one day and gave me 
a book to read, which made a very deep impression on 
me. As well as I can remember it was called: “The 
Children of the Heavenly King.” This story repre¬ 
sented three brothers, one, the youngest, was named 
Ezra, the other Ulrich, the name of the third I forget. 
These three were intrusted with watching certain 
passes in the mountains during the warfare between 
a great, good king, and a bad one, and in proportion 
as these boys were faithful, the good king was victor¬ 
ious in battle, but when they neglected their duty, he 
would suffer loss. The character of little Ezra was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


45 


a sweet, unselfish one. He tried so hard to help, and 
have his brothers do right. He would run from his 
post to wake them up, and tried to make up for their 
neglect. He would do without rest and food for him¬ 
self, and would plead with them to do their duty. At 
last, when the king came, little Ezra was richly re¬ 
warded ; Ulrich barely passed, and the unfaithful one 
was taken out amidst weeping, wailing and gnashing 
of teeth, and the door was shut. The minister did not 
know what good he had done. 

“Only a thought, but the work it wrought, 

Could never by tongue or pen be taught; 

For it ran thro’ a life, like a thread of gold, 

And the life bore fruit, an hundred fold. 

Only a word, but it was spoken in love, 

With a whispered prayer to the Lord above; 

And the angels in heaven rejoiced once more 
For a new-born soul entered in, at the door.” 

I resolved to be like little Ezra as nearly as I could. 
When I was a child I fought against selfish nature. I 
would often give away my doll clothes and other things 
that I wanted to keep myself. Some of the strongest 
characteristics of my life were awakened in my child¬ 
hood. I would often blush with shame, when com¬ 
mitting sins, and I had a great fear of the judgment 
day; it would terrify me when hearing of Jesus com¬ 
ing to the earth. I would often ask myself: “Where 
can I hide?” If the public knew of the smashing God 
gave me the strength to do in my heart, they would 
not wonder at my courage in smashing the murder- 
shops of our land. “He that ruleth his own spirit, is 
greater than he that taketh a city.” (Prov. 16:32.) 


46 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


In 1855, we moved to Missouri, just a year before 
the trouble broke out between Kansas and Missouri. 
Missouri determined to make Kansas a slave state; 
but Kansas said she would not have a slave upon her 
soil. Squads of men in Missouri would often go into 
Kansas and commit depredations. At one time they 
burned Lawrence, Kansas, and killed many people. 
This trouble continued to grow worse until it brought 
on the great Civil War. 

When we moved from Kentucky to Missouri, I took 
a severe cold on the boat, which made me an invalid 
for years. I was not a truthful child, neither was I 
honest. My mother was very strict with me in many 
ways and I would often tell her lies to avoid restraint 
or punishment. If there was anything I wanted about 
the house, especially something to eat, I would steal it, 
if I could. The colored servants would often ask me 
to steal things for them. My nurse Betsy, would say: 
“Carry get me a cup of sugar, or some butter, thread 
or needles/’ and many other things. This would make 
me sly and dishonest. I used to go and see my aunts 
and stay for months. I would open their boxes and 
bureau drawers and steal ribbons and laces and make 
doll clothes out of them. I would steal perfumery and 
would run out of the room to prevent them from 
smelling it. I am telling this for a purpose. Many 
little children may be doing what I did, not thinking 
of what a serious thing it is, and I write this to show 
them how I was cured of dishonesty: I got a little 
book at Sunday School and it told of the way people 
became thieves, by beginning to take little things, 
naming them, and some of these, were the very things 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


47 


I had been taking. I was greatly shocked to see my¬ 
self a thief; it had never occurred to me that I was as 
bad as that. I thought one had to steal something of 
great value to be a thief. My repentance was sincere, 
and I was made honest by this blessed book, so much 
so that even after I became grown, if any article was 
left in my house I would give it away, unless I could 
find the owner. I was perfectly delighted when I was 
entirely free. I asked for everything I wanted, even 
a pin. After that, I could show my doll clothes, and 
it was not necessary for me to be sly or tell stories any 
more. It was about this time I was converted. There 
was a protracted meeting at a place called Hickman’s 
Mill, Jackson County, Missouri. The minister was 
gray haired and belonged to the Christian or Disciples 
church, the one my father belonged to. I was at this 
time ten years old and went with my father to church 
on Lord’s Day morning. At the close of the sermon, 
and during the invitation, my father stepped to the 
pulpit and spoke to the minister and he looked over in 
my direction. At this I began to weep bitterly, some 
power seemed to impel me to go forward and sit down 
on the front bench. I could not have told anyone what 
I wept for, except it was a longing to be better. I 
had often thought before this that I was in danger of 
going to the “Bad place,” especially was I afraid to 
think of the time when I should see Jesus come. I 
wanted to hide from Him. My father had a cousin 
living at Hickman’s Mill, Ben Robertson. His wife, 
cousin Jennie, came up to me at the close of the ser¬ 
vice, and said: “Carry, I believe you know what you 
are doing.” But I did not. Oh, how I wanted some 


48 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


one to explain to me. The next day I was taken to 
a running stream about two miles away, and, although 
it was quite cold and some ice in the water, I felt no 
fear. It seemed like a dream. I know God will bless 
the ordinance of baptism, for the little Carry that 
walked into the water was different from the one who 
walked out. I said no word. I felt that I could not 
speak, for fear of disturbing the peace that passeth all 
understanding. Kind hands wrapped me up and I 
felt no chill. I felt the responsibility of my new rela¬ 
tion and tried hard to do right. 

A few days after this I was at my aunt Kate Don- 
eghy’s. Uncle James, or “Jim,” we called him, her 
husband, was not a Christian. He shocked me one 
day by saying: “So those Campbellites took you to 
the creek, and soused you, did they ‘Car?” (A nick 
name.) What a blow! My aunt seemed also shocked 
to have him speak thus to me. I left the room and 
avoided meeting him again. How he crushed me! It 
made me feel like a criminal. God said: “You had bet¬ 
ter have a mill stone about your neck and be cast into 
the midst of the sea, then to offend (cause to stum¬ 
ble) one of these little ones.” Luke 17:2. 

The Protestant Church here makes a fatal error 
which the Catholic Church avoids. The ministers of 
the latter have all young converts come often to them 
for instruction. A child may be born, but not being 
nursed and fed, it will die. Cod has commanded them 
to be fed on the sincere milk of the word. My great¬ 
est hindrance has been from the lack of proper Chris¬ 
tian teaching. I love the memory of my father, he 
used to have me read the Bible to him, and while I 


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50 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


did not enjoy it then, it is a blessed memory. The 
family altar is essential to the welfare of every home, 
no other form of discipline is equal to it. The liberty, 
chivalry, and life of a nation live or die in proportion 
as the Altar fires live or die. 

“And these words which I command thee this day 
shall be in thine heart and thou shall teach them dili¬ 
gently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when 
thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by 
the way and when thou best down and when thou 
risest up.” Deut. 6:7. 

When I was fifteen, the war broke out between the 
North and the South. My father saw that Missouri 
would be the battle ground and he, with many others, 
took their families and negroes and went South, tak¬ 
ing what the)' could in wagons, for there were no rail¬ 
roads then in that section. The droves of cattle, mules 
and horses, and wagons made a large train. One 
wagon had six yoke of oxen to it; one had to get into 
it with a ladder. It was the kind that was used to 
carry freight across the plains. The family went in 
the carriage that my father brought from Kentucky. 
I remember the time when this was purchased, with 
the two dapple gray horses, and silver mounted har¬ 
ness. When my mother would drive out she had a 
driver in black broadcloth, with a high silk hat, and a 
boy rode on a seat behind, to open the gates. This was 
one of the ways of traveling in Kentucky in those 
days. My mother was an aristocrat in her ideas, but 
my father was not. He liked no display. He was wise 
enough to see the sin and folly of it. 

After being on the road six weeks, we stopped in 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


51 


Grayson County, Texas, and bought a farm. As we 
started from Missouri one of the colored women be¬ 
came sick with typhoid fever. This spread so that ten 
of the family, white and black, were down at one time. 
As soon as we could travel, my father left the colored 
people south, and took his family back to Missouri. 
That winter going South was a great blessing to me, 
for I recovered from a disease that had made me an 
invalid for five years—consumption of the bowels. 
Poor health had kept me out of school a great deal. 
My father at one time sent me to Mrs. Tillery’s board¬ 
ing school in Independence, Missouri, but I was not 
in the recitation room more than half of the time. 

After I recovered' my health in Texas, it was my 
delight to ride on horseback with a girl friend. The 
Southern boys were preparing to go to war. Many a 
time did we sew for days on the grey cloth that the 
mothers had sorrowfully spun and woven and were 
now working up into clothes for their sons; later to 
be buried in,* far away from their loved ones and 
homes. 

There were many good masters. And again there 
were bad ones. Whiskey is always a cruel tyrant and 
is a worse evil than chattel slavery. We were often 
stopped on our trip by Southern troops, in the Terri- 
torv and Texas, and then again by Northerners. We 
passed over the Pea Ridge battle ground shortly after 
the battle. Oh ! the horrors of war. We often stopped 
at houses where the wounded were. We let them have 
our pillows and every bit of bedding we could spare. 
We went to our home in Cass County, Missouri. 

Shortly after this we, with all families living in that 


52 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


country, were commanded by an order from Colonel 
Jim Lane, to move into an army post. This reached 
several counties in Missouri. It was done to depopu¬ 
late the country, so that the “Bushwhackers” would 
be forced to leave, because of not being able to get 
food from the citizens. This caused much suffering. 
But such is war. We moved to Kansas City. I was 
in Independence, Missouri during the battle, when 
General Price came through. I went with a good wo¬ 
man to the hospital to help with the wounded. My 
duty was to comb the heads of the wounded. I had 
a pan of scalding water near and would use the comb 
and shake off the vermin into the hot water. The 
Southern and Northern wounded were in the same 
rooms. In health they were enemies, but I only saw 
kindly feeling and sympathy. 

Mothers ought to give their daughters the exper¬ 
ience of sitting with the sick; of preparing food for 
them; of binding up wounds. It is a pitiful sight to 
see a helpless woman in the sick room, ignorant 
through lack of experience and education, of ways to 
be useful at the time and place where these character¬ 
istics of woman adorn her the most of all others. 

After we returned from Texas, I had the house 
work, cooking and most of the washing to do, being 
the eldest child, as my mother was sick. The servants 
all gone and the younger children going to school. 
Herein was the curse of slavery. My father saw this, 
and I don’t believe he had a regret when the slaves 
were free. Mothers; it matters not what else you 
teach your daughters, if they have not an experience 
in doing the work themselves about a home, they are 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


53 


sadly deficient. It is not the soft, palefaced, painted, 
fashionable lady we want, for the world would be bet¬ 
ter without her; but the woman capable of knowing 
how, and willing to take a place in the home affairs of 
life. To be womanly, means strength of character, 
virtue and a power for good. “Let your aged women 
be teachers of good things,” says the Holy Spirit. 
(Titus 2:3.) 

The last school I attended was at Liberty, Miss¬ 
ouri, taught by Mr. and Mrs. Love. Only went there 
a year, but it was of untold value to me. I was so 
eager to get an education. On account of ill health 
and the war, I knew but little. I wanted a thorough 
education. I had read a good many books, and would 
write sketches; kept a diary part of the time. 

I will here relate an incident that will give my read¬ 
ers a little insight into my impulses. At Liberty School 
we had a class in Smellie’s Natural Philosophy.” 
There was an argument among the girls. Some said 
animals had reasoning faculties. Others said they had 
not. Miss Jennie Johnson, our teacher, said: “Have 
that for a question to debate on in your society.” So 
it was ordered. I was given the affirmative. The Fri¬ 
day came. I was taken by surprise and was in con¬ 
fusion, when I saw the room crowded. The two other 
societies of the Seminary, “The Mary Lyons” and 
“Rising Star,” also all the teachers, were present. Our 
Society was the “Eunomian.” I had made no prepar¬ 
ations. When I was called I know I looked ridicu¬ 
lously blank. The president tried to keep her face 
straight. I got no farther than, “Miss President.” All 
burst out in uncontrollable laughter. I went to my 


54 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


seat put my face in my arms and turned my back to 
the audience. I wept tears of humiliation. I felt dis¬ 
graced. I thought of what a shame this would be to 
my parents. However after this I must be considered 
a “Silly” by my schoolmates. These things nerved me. 
I dried my tears, turned around in my seat, looked up, 
and the moral force it required to do this was almost 
equal to that which smashed a saloon. I arose and 
said: “Miss President, I am ready to state my case.” 
I began in this style: “I know animals have the power 
to reason for my brothers cured a dog from sucking 
eggs by having him take a hot one in his mouth, and 
it was the last egg we ever knew him to pick up. 
Why? Because he remembered the hot one and rea¬ 
soned that he might get burned. Why is it that a 
horse will like one person more than another ? Because 
he is capable of reasoning and knows who is the best 
to him.” I went on in this homely style and spoke 
with a vehemence which said: “I will make my point,” 
which I did amidst the cheers of the school. I was 
eighteen at this time and you would say: “You must 
have been rather green.” So I was in some things. 

I believe I have always failed in everything I un¬ 
dertook to do the first time, but I learned only by ex¬ 
perience, paid dearly for it, and valued it afterwards. 
My failures have been my best teachers. I see no one 
more awkward than I once was, but I determined to 
conquer. My defects were the great incentives to per¬ 
severance, when I felt I was right. 

I shall not in this book speak much of my love af¬ 
fairs, but they were, nevertheless, an important part 
of my life. I was a great lover. I used to think a per- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


55 


son never could love but once in this life, but I often 
now say, I would not want a heart that could hold but 
one love. It was not the beauty of face or form that 
was the most attractive to me in young gentlemen, or 
ladies, but that of the mind. Seeing this the case with 
myself, I tried to acquire knowledge to make my com¬ 
pany agreeable. I see young ladies, and gentlemen, 
who entertain each other with their silly jokes and 
gigglings that are disgusting. When I had company 
I always directed the conversation so that my friend 
would teach me something, or I would teach him. I 
would read the poets, and Scott’s writings and his¬ 
tory. Read Josephus, mythology and the Bible to¬ 
gether, and never read a course that taught me as 
much. I would go to the country dances and some¬ 
times to balls in the city. But my native modesty pre¬ 
vented me from ever dancing a round dance with a 
gentleman. I can not think this hugging school com¬ 
patible with a true woman. The church did not object 
to this: I would teach Sunday School at the same time. 
No one taught me that this was wrong. One thing 
was a tower of defense to me. I always, when possi¬ 
ble, read the Bible and would pray. After retiring 
would get up and kneel, feeling that to pray in bed 
only, was disrespectful to God. If the angels in hea¬ 
ven would prostrate themselves before Him, I a poor 
sinner should. And right here, I believe in “advanc¬ 
ing on your knees.” Abraham prostrated himself, so 
did David and Solomon, Elijah, Daniel, Paul, and 
even our sinless Advocate. Why did the Holy Ghost 
state the position so often? For our example, of 
course. There are no space writers in the Scriptures. 


56 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


I often had doubts as to whether the Bible was the 
work of God or man. I kept these doubts to myself, 
for I thought infidelity a disgrace. I wanted to believe 
the Bible the Word of God. I early saw that to close 
the Bible was to shut out all knowledge of the purpose 
of life. Without its revelations one does not know 
why we are born, why we live, or where we go after 
death. We can see the purpose of all nature, but not 
of this life of ours, and God had, by revelation, to 
make this known. 

The Bible was a mystery to me. It often seemed to 
be a contradiction. I did not love to read it, but above 
all things, I did not want to be a hypocrite. I was de¬ 
termined to try to 'do my part. I would pray for the 
same thing over and over again, so as to be in earnest, 
and think of what I was asking. My mind was dis¬ 
tracted by thoughts of the world. I said, if there is a 
God, he will not hear the prayer of those, so disre¬ 
spectful as not to think of what they ask. I never 
seemed to get rid of this, unless at times, when I would 
have some sorrow of heart. “By the sadness of the 
countenance, the heart is made better.” (Eccles. 7:3.) 

I do not believe the Bible^because I understand it; 
for there are few things of revelation that I do under¬ 
stand. Creation is a mystery, still we know everything 
had a beginning. I do not know how things grow out 
of the earth. Why they are green. Why grass makes 
wool on a sheep and hair on a cow, but I know these 
are facts. I cannot understand how the blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanses from sin, neither do I understand that 
greatest of all mysteries, the new birth, but nothing 
is more positively a fact in my experience. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


57 


God is not perceived by the five senses. “The king¬ 
dom of God cometh not by observation.” (Luke 
17 :20.) The things that are seen are temporal, but 
those that are unseen are eternal. What a sin of pre¬ 
sumption to question God in any of His providences. 
What God says and does is wisdom, righteousness and 
power. 

The book of Psalms condemned me. I said, I never 
felt like David. I cannot rejoice. Still I felt that I 
ought to, but instead, a constant feeling of condemna¬ 
tion and conviction. This was torture to me. I would 
often have been willing to have died, if I thought it 
would have been an eternal sleep. My childhood and 
girlhood were not happy. I had so many disappoint¬ 
ments. I was called “hard headed” by my parents. I 
never was free to have what I wished; something 
would come between me and what I wanted. No one 
understood me so well as my darling aunt Hope Hill, 
my mother’s sister. She seemed to read me and would 
talk to me of persons and things, answering the very 
cry of my heart. My mother would often let me stay 
with her for months. She had five sons, but no daugh¬ 
ters and she was very fond of me. This lesson she 
taught me: A party of ladies came out from Inde¬ 
pendence to spend the day with her. Mrs. Woodson 
and a Mrs. Porter, wife of Dr. Porter, I remember the 
latter, one of the handsomest women I ever saw, beau¬ 
tiful feet, hands, hair, and a woman who knew it, and 
it was a matter of the greatest pride with her, these 
charms. I was very much captivated by her splendid 
appearance, and could not keep my eyes from her. 
Next day Mrs. John Staton, a country neighbor of 


58 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


my aunt’s, came in to make a visit. She was very 
plain, wore a calico dress, waist-apron, and she was 
knitting a sock. After she left aunt said td fne: 
“Carry, you did not seem to like Mrs. Staton’s society 
as you did Mrs. Porter’s; but one sentence of Mrs. 
Staton’s is worth all Mrs. Porter said. Mrs. Porter 
lives for this world, Mrs. Staton lives for God.” This 
lesson I did not learn then, but have since. Oh! for 
the old-fashioned women. 

In gratitude for the memory of such a wise aunt as 
my aunt Hope Hill, who has been dead for years. In 
the fall of 1907, I heard through the state department 
of Washington, D. C., that Aunt Hope’s youngest son 
was insane in Mexico. We had thought him dead for 
years. It made me very unhappy to know that this 
relation was so far away and that none of the relatives 
were in a condition to go to his aid. This aunt was 
very dear to me, and this cousin was my own flesh 
and blood. “He that careth not for his own hath de¬ 
nied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” At last, 
although not knowing how I would ever get through 
such a task, I took ship at Galveston for Guadalajara, 
Mexico, took possession of my cousin and with the 
help of God I brought him to Independence, Missouri, 
where he is being taken care of in the Institution in St. 
Joseph near by his mother’s grave. That dear mother 
who died from anxiety over a wayward, drunken son. 
My dear aunt living in Macon City, Missouri, wrote 
me after I returned, “Carry no human would, or could 
have done what you did.” 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH SPIRITUALISM. 

Just at the close of the war when we were on a 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


59 


farm in Cass County, Missouri, a colony of spiritual¬ 
ists were near us, Mrs. Hawkins, the medium was 
about 60 years old, very peculiar, and finely educated. 
My father had some farms he was selling for other 
people. He took Mrs. Hawkins and several of her 
company to look at a farm with a view of selling it. 
When she saw it from a hill some distance off she said: 
“That is. the place I saw in Connecticut.” She bought 
it for a town site. In writing to Washington to give 
it a name, the word “Peculiar” was selected, and so it 
has ever been called. Mrs. Hawkins took a great 
fancy to me. She would tell me of great things she 
had done, then say: “Could Jesus Christ have done 
more ?” I had never heard of Spiritualism that I knew 
of, up to this time. This colony brought mechanics, 
merchants and musicians with them. I was in great 
confusion about this matter, not knowing what to 
think, for she did some superhuman things. Upstairs 
we had a large safe full of old books. I was looking 
over them one day, came to a little book called “Spirit¬ 
ualism Exposed.” I immediately went to the orchard, 
sat under a tree, as my custom was, when I wished to 
read, for there I could be quiet. I read the little book 
through, before I stopped. This blessed lesson showed 
me to my entire satisfaction, that modern spiritualism 
is witchcraft. The writer took the instances in the 
Bible. God told Moses: “You must not suffer a witch 
to livesee it at the court of Pharaoh, and that they 
have “superhuman power.” There are two kingdoms. 
One of darkness, and one of light. God rules in the 
latter; The Devil in the former. Both have powers 
above the power of man. The magicians at Pharoah’s 


60 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


court were wizards; and the woman of Endor was a 
witch. The Bible speaks of dealing with “familiar 
spirits.” Manasseh, Saul, and other Kings, were curs¬ 
ed for such. Gal. 5th has it as one of the “mortal 
sins.” The Devil can do lying miracles to deceive. He 
will heal the body, or appear to do it, to damn the soul. 
I find this in “Christian Science.” This is the mark of 
the “Beast” or carnal mind. Man is but a beast with¬ 
out the new birth, or spirit of God. Carnality always 
seeks to elevate itself. Grace is humble, and sees noth¬ 
ing good outside of God. The niark of the beast, is 
the number, or mark of a man; that is carnality or the 
Beast. Rev. 13 :18. 

There are many false prophets in these last days, 
“Go not out to meet them.” Go not out of God’s 
Word, all false religions are propagated by teachings 
and writings outside of the Word. The Devil through 
all these heresies is deceiving the people who through 
them are, “denying the Lord that bought them,” by 
the great atonement, the life-giving blood. 

My definition of Christian Science is this, “the pres¬ 
ence of all lies, and the absence of all truth.” 


CHAPTER IV. 

MY FIRST MARRIAGE.-A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT.- 

MOTHER GLOYD.-MY DRUGGED AND WHISKEY MURD¬ 
ERED HUSBAND.-LOSING MY POSITION. AS TEACHER.- 

SECOND MARRIAGE.'—LOSS OF PROPERTY.-KEEPING 

HOTEL.-STRUGGLES FOR DAILY FOOD.-THE AFFLIC¬ 
TIONS OF MY CHILD.-ANSWER TO PRAYER. 

In the fall .of 1865, Dr. Gloyd, a young physician, 
called to see my father to secure the country school, 
saying he wished to locate in our section of the coun¬ 
try, and wanted to take a school that winter, and then 
he could decide where he would like to practice his 
profession. 

This man was a thorough student, spoke, and read, 
several different languages. He boarded with us. I 
liked him, and stood in awe of him because of his su¬ 
perior education, never thinking that he loved me, 
until he astonished me one evening by kissing me. I 
had never had a gentleman to take such a privilege 
and felt shocked, threw up my hands to my face, say¬ 
ing several times: “I am ruined.” My aunt and moth¬ 
er had instilled great reserve in my actions, when in 
company of gentlemen, so much so that I had never 
allowed one to sit near or hold my hand. This 
was not because I did not like their society, 
but I had been taught that to inspire respect or 
love from a man, you must keep him at a distance. 
This often made we awkward and reserved, but it did 
me no harm. When I learned that Dr. Gloyd loved 


62 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


me, I began to love him. He was an only child. His 
parents had but a modest living. My mother was not 
pleased with seeing a growing attachment between us, 
for there was another match she had planned for me. 
When she saw this she would not allow me to sit alone 
in the room with him, so our communication was 
mostly by writing letters. I never knew Shakespeare 
until he read it to me, and I became an ardent admirer 
of the greatest poet. The volume of Shakespeare on 
his table was our postoffice. In the morning at break¬ 
fast he would manage to call the name “Shakespeare;” 
then I would know there was a letter for me in its 
leaves. After teaching three months he went to Hol¬ 
den, Missouri, and located; sent for his father and 
mother and in two years we were married. 

My father and mother warned me that the doctor 
was addicted to drink, but I had no idea of the curse 
of rum. I did not fear anything, for I was in love, 
and doubted in him nothing. When Dr. Gloyd came 
up to marry me the 21st of November, 1867, I noticed 
with pain, that his countenance was not bright, he was 
changed. The day was one of the gloomiest I ever 
saw, a mist fell, and not a ray of sunshine. I felt a fore¬ 
boding on the day I had looked forward to, as being 
one of the happiest. I did not find Dr. Gloyd the lover 
I expected. He was kind but seemed to want to be 
away from me; used to sit and read, when I was so 
hungry for his caresses and love. I have heard that 
this is the experience of many other young married 
women. They are so disappointed that their husbands 
change so after marriage. With my observation and 
experience I believe that men have it in their power 




f 





CARRY A. NATION AT 26 YEARS OF AGE. 









































































64 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


to keep the love of ninety-nine women out of a hun¬ 
dred. Why do women lose love for their husbands? 
I find it is mostly due to indifference on the part of 
the husband. I often hear the experience of those poor 
abandoned sisters. I ask, Why are you in this house 
of sin and death? When I can get their confidence, 
many of them say: “I married a man; he drank, and 
went with other women. I got discouraged or spite¬ 
ful, and went to the bad also.” I find that drink causes 
so much enmity between the sexes. Drinking men 
neglect their wives. Their wives become jealous. 
Men often go with abandoned women under the influ¬ 
ence of that drink that animates the animal passions 
and asks not for the association of love, but the grati¬ 
fication of lust. Men do not go to the houses of ill- 
fame to meet women they love but oftener those they 
almost hate. The drink habit destroys in men the ap¬ 
preciation of a home life, and when a woman leaves 
all others for one man, she does, and should, expect 
his companionship, and is not satisfied without it. 
Libertines, taking advantage of this, select women 
whose husbands are neglectful, and he wins victims 
by his attentions, and poor woman, as at the first, is 
beguiled. Marriage, while it is the blissful consum¬ 
mation of pure love, is the most serious of all relations, 
and girls and boys should early be instructed about 
the secrets of their own natures, the object of mar¬ 
riage, and the serious results of any marriage where 
true love is not the object. I confess myself that I 
was not fit to marry with the ignorance of its holy pur¬ 
pose. Sunday School teachers, mothers, fathers and 
ministers, look into God’s word and see the results of 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


65 


sin. God has written of this so as to force you to edu¬ 
cate your children. Talk freely. Truth will purify 
everything it comes in contact with. Ignorance is not 
innocence, but is the promoter of crime: “My people 
are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6. 

About five days after we were married, Dr. Gloyd 
came in, threw himself on the bed and fell asleep. I 
was in the next room and saw his mother bow down 
over his face. She did not know I saw her. When 
she left, I did the same thing, and the fumes of liquor 
came in my face. I was terror stricken, and from that 
time on, I knew why he was so changed. Not one 
happy moment did I see! I cried most all the time. My 
husband seemed to understand that I knew his condi¬ 
tion. Twice, with tears in his eyes, he remarked: “Oh ! 
Pet, I would give my right arm to make you happy.” 
He would be out until late every night. I never closed 
my eyes. His sign in front of the door on the street 
would creak in the wind, and I would sit by the win¬ 
dow waiting to hear his footsteps. I never saw him 
stagger. He would lock himself up in the “Masonic 
Lodge” and allow no one to see him. People would 
call for him in case of sickness, but he could not be 
found. 

My anguish was unspeakable, I was comparatively 
a child. I wanted some one to help me. He was a 
mason. I talked to a Mr. Hulitt, a brother mason, I 
begged of him to help me save my precious husband. 
I talked to a dear friend, Mrs. Clara Mize, a Christian, 
hoping to get some help in that direction, but all they 
could say, was: “Oh, what pity, to see a man like Dr. 
Gloyd throw himself away!” The world was all at 


66 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


once changed to me, it was like a place of torture. I 
thought certainly, there must be a way to prevent this 
suicide and murder. I now know, that the impulse 
was born in me then to combat to the death this in¬ 
humanity to man. 

I believe the masons were a great curse to Dr. Gloyd. 
These men would drink with him. There is no society 
or business that separates man and wife, or calls men 
from their homes at night, that produces any good re¬ 
sults. I believe that secret societies are unscriptural, 
and that the Masonic Lodge has been the ruin of many 
a home and character. 

I was so ignorant I did not know that I owed a duty 
to myself to avoid gloomy thoughts; did not know that 
a mother could entail a curse on her offspring before 
it was born. Oh. the curse that comes through hered¬ 
ity, and this liquor evil, a disease that entails more de¬ 
pravity on children unborn, than all else, unless it be 
tobacco. There is an object lesson taught in the Bible. 
The mother of Samson was told by an angel to “drink 
neither wine nor strong drink,” Judges 13:4, before 
her child was born. God shows by this, that these 
things are injurious. Mothers often make drunkards 
of their own children, before they are born. My par¬ 
ents heard that Dr. Gloyd was drinking. My father 
came down to visit us, and I went home with him. My 
mother told me I must never go back to my husband 
again. I knew time was near at hand, when I would 
be helpless, with a drunken husband, and no means 
of support. What could I do? I kept writing to 
“Charlie,” as I called him. He came to see me once; 
my mother treated him as a stranger. He expressed 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 67 

much anxiety about my confinement in September; got 
a party to agree to come for him at the time; but my 
mother would not allow it. In six weeks after my lit¬ 
tle girl was born, my mother sent my brother with me 
to Holden to get my trunk and other things to bring 
them home. Her words to me were: “If you stay in 
Holden, never return home again.” My husband beg¬ 
ged me to stay with him; he said: “Pet, if you leave 
me, I will be a dead man in six months.” I wanted to 
stay with him, but dared not disobey my mother and 
be thrown out of shelter, for I saw I could not depend 
on my husband. I did not know then that drinking 
men were drugged men, diseased men. His mother 
told me that when he was growing up to manhood, 
his father, Harry Gloyd, was Justice of the Peace in 
Newport, Ohio, twelve years, and that Charlie was so 
disgusted with the drink cases, that he would go in a 
room and lock himself in, to get out of their hearing; 
that he never touched a drop until he went in the army, 
the 118th regiment, Thomas L. Young being the Col¬ 
onel. Dr. Gloyd was a captain. In the society of these 
officers he, for the first time, began to drink intoxi¬ 
cants. He was fighting to free others from slavery, 
and he became a worse slave than those he fought to 
free. In a little less than six months from the day my 
child was born, I got a telegram telling of his death. 
His father died a few months before he did, and 
mother Gloyd was left entirely alone. 

Mother Gloyd was a true type of a New England 
housewife, and I had always lived in the south. I 
could not say at this time that I loved her, although I 
respected her very highly. But I wanted to be with 


G8 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


the mother of the man I loved more than my own life; 
I wanted to supply his place if possible. My father 
gave me several lots; by selling one of these and Dr. 
Gloyd’s library and instruments, I built a house of 
three rooms on one of the lots and rented the house 
we lived in, which brought us in a little income, but 
not sufficient to support us. I wanted to prepare my¬ 
self to.teach, and I attended the Normal Institute of 
Warrensburg. I was not able to pay my board and 
Mr. Archie Gilkerson and wife charged me nothing 
and were as kind to me as parents. God bless them ! 
I got a certificate and was given the primary room in 
the Public School at Holden. Mother Gloyd kept 
house and took care of Charlien, my little girl, and 
I made the living. This continued for four years. I 
lost my position as teacher in that school this way: 
A Dr. Moore was a member of the board, he criticised 
me for the way I had the little ones read; for instance, 
in the sentence, “I saw a man,” I had them use the 
short a instead of the long a, and so with the article a; 
having them read it as we would speak it naturally. 
He made this serious objection, and I lost my place 
and Dr. Moore’s niece got my room as teacher. This 
was a severe blow to me, for I could not leave mother 
Gloyd and Charlien to teach in another place, and I 
knew of no other way of making a living except by 
teaching. I resolved then to get married. I made it 
a subject of prayer and went to the Lord explaining 
things about this way. I said: “My Lord, you see the 
situation I cannot take care of mother and Charlien. 
I want you to help me. If it be best for me to marry 
I will do so. I have no one picked out, but I want you 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


69 


to select the one that you think best. I want to give 
you my life, and I want by marrying to glorify and 
serve you, as well as to take care of mother and Char- 
lien and be a good wife.” I have always been a liter- 
alist. I find out that it is the only way to interpret the 
Bible. When God says: “Commit thy way unto the 
Lord; trust also in him he shall bring it to pass,” Ps. 
37:5, I believe that to be the way to act. My faith does 
not at all times grasp this or other promises, but there 
are times when I can appropriate them and make them 
mine; there are times when I can pray with faith, be¬ 
lieving that I have the things I pray for, other times 
it is not so. 

In about ten days from that time I made this a sub¬ 
ject of prayer, I was walking down the street in Hol¬ 
den and passed a place where Mr. Nation was stand¬ 
ing, who had come up from Warrensburg, where he 
was then editing the “Warrensburg Journal.” He 
was standing in the door with his back to me, but 
turned and spoke. There was a peculiar thrill which 
passed through my heart which made me start. The 
next day I got a letter from him, asking me to cor¬ 
respond with him. I was not surprised; had been ex¬ 
pecting something like it. I knew that this was in an¬ 
swer to my prayer, and David Nation was to be the 
husband God selected for me. He was nineteen years 
older than I, was very good looking, and was a well- 
informed, successful lawyer, also a minister in the 
Christian Church. My friends in Holden opposed this 
because of the difference in our ages and of his large 
family. I gave him the loving confidence of a true 
wife and he was often very kind to me. We were mar- 


TO 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


ried within six weeks from the time I got the letter 
from him. Mother Gloyd went to live with us and 
continued to do so for fifteen years, until she died. My 
married life with Mr. Nation was not a happy one. I 
found out that he deceived me in so many things. I 
can remember the first time I found this out. I felt 
that something was broken that could never be mend¬ 
ed. What a shattered thing is betrayed confidence! 
Oh, husbands and wives, do not lie to each other, even 
though you should do a vile act; confess to the truth 
of the matter! There will be some trouble over it, but 
you can never lose your love for a truthful person. I 
hated lying because I loved the truth. I hated dis¬ 
honesty because I loved honesty. I loved, therefore 
I hated. I love mankind therefore I hated the enemies 
of mankind. I loved God and therefore hated the 
devil. Truth is the pearl of great price. Whoso get- 
teth it has all earth and heaven. 

I shall not in this book give to the public the details 
of my life as a wife of David Nation any more than 
possible. He and I agreed in but few things, and still 
we did not have the outbreaks many husbands and 
wives have. The most serious trouble that ever rose 
between us was in regard to Christianity. My Chris¬ 
tian life was an offence unto him, and I found out if I 
yielded to his ideas and views that I would be false 
to every true motive. He saw that I resented this in¬ 
fluence and it caused him to be suspicious and jeal¬ 
ous. I think my combative nature was largely de¬ 
veloped by living with him, for I had to fight for 
everything that I kept. About two years after we were 
married we exchanged our mutual properties for seven- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


71 


teen hundred acres of land on the San Bernard river in 
Texas, part of which was a cotton plantation. We 
knew nothing of the cultivation of cotton or of planta¬ 
tion life. We took a car load of good furniture with 
us and some fine stock, hogs and cattle. In packing 
up to go to Texas there was a widow who assisted me. 
In paying her for her services, I would not pay her 
money, but gave her the things I did not want to carry 
with me. I remember I left about eight bushels of 
potatoes in the cellar for her and the night we left 
they froze. I felt very conscience-stricken for the way 
I treated this poor woman. 

We were as helpless on the plantation as little chil¬ 
dren. The cultivation of cotton was very different 
from anything we had been used to. A bad neighbor 
threw all of our plows in the Bernard river and every¬ 
thing seemed to go wrong. We had eight horses die 
in the pasture the spring after we moved there. Soon 
the money we took with us was gone and Mr. Nation 
became discouraged. He went to Brazoria, the county 
seat, and stayed six weeks during court, for the pur¬ 
pose of entering the practice of law again. 

The cotton had been planted before he left. A 
neighbor named Martin Hanks came over and told me 
not to allow the cotton to go to waste, said he would 
lend me his plows, and advised me to get a colored 
man named Edmond, who was his master’s overseer 
in slave time, to manage this crop for me. I hired five 
other negroes, paying them with things I had in the 
house, for I had not a cent of money. The result was 
a fine crop of cotton. Mr. Nation’s daughter Lola, 
was then eleven years old, and Charlien was three 


72 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


years younger. We lived six miles from a school, and 
just at a time when the girls needed school most. I 
began to see what a disastrous move we had made. I 
became very despondent and sick at heart. I was 
young and did not know then how to contend with 
disappointments on every hand. At one time I was 
quite sick with chills and fever. I had nothing in the 
house but meal, some fat bacon and sweet potatoes. 
There was a poor old man that we took in for charity 
who was with us, named Mr. Holt. I called him to 
my bedside and asked him to go to the patch and dig 
a bushel of sweet potatoes and take them to town and 
exchange them for a little tea, sugar, lemons and 
bread. He failed in this and was returning when he 
met a dear, sweet woman, Mrs. Underwood, whom I 
called my '‘Texas Mother.” She called to Mr. Holt, 
and asked how I was. He told her I was sick and 
out of anything to eat. She took the potatoes and sent 
the articles I wanted. I believe I should have died had 
he returned without them, for I was almost famished 
for good food. 

I was in Columbia one day and stopped at the Old 
Columbia Hotel, owned by the Messrs. Park, two 
brothers. Mrs. Ballenger a widow was renting it 
from Messrs. Park. I said to them: “If you ever need 
a tenant, send for me.” In a few months Mrs. Bal- 
lenger’s daughter died and she left. Mr. Park sent 
for me to come. We had a carload of good plain furn¬ 
iture and bedding, some handsome tableware, but no 
money to buy provisions. 

Dear old mother Gloyd was a great help to me. She 
had once kept hotel herself. I did not ask credit, at 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


73 


the store and this is how I got the money to begin 
keeping hotel: There was an Irish ditcher named 
Dunn, whose wife did my work. She was a good 
cook. I borrowed of Mr. Dunn three dollars and fifty 
cents, and with this money began the hotel business. 
The house was a rattle trap, plastering off, and a reg¬ 
ular bed-bug nest. I fumigated, pasted the walls over 
with cloth and newspapers, where the plastering was 
off, and made curtains out of old sheets. My pur¬ 
chases were about like this for the first day: Fifty 
cents worth of meat, coffee ten cents, rice ten cents 
and sugar twenty-five, potatoes five, etc* The trans¬ 
ients at one meal would give me something to spend 
for the next. I assisted about the cooking and helped 
in the dining-room. Mother Gloyd and Lola attended 
to the chamber work, and little Charlien was the one 
who did the buying for the house. I would often wash 
out my tablecloths at night myself and iron them in 
the' morning before breakfast. I would take board¬ 
ers’ washing, hire a woman to wash, then do the iron¬ 
ing myself. Columbia was a small village of not more 
than five hundred people. It was the terminal of a 
railroad called the Columbia Tap. Mr. Painter, the 
conductor, began boarding with us right off, and in 
three or four days he brought a family there to board 
by the name of Oastram, father, mother and two boys, 
having come south to buy a plantation. Mrs. Oastram 
handed me a ten dollar bill. I called Lola and Char- 
lien upstairs and showed them the ten dollar bill. We 
were overjoyed; we danced, laughed, and cried. Char- 
lien said: “Now we can buy a whole ham.” For sev¬ 
eral months my little children and I ate nothing but 


74 


the: use and need of 


broken food. I can never put on paper the struggles 
of this life. I would not know one day how we would 
get along the next. 

The bitterest sorrows of my life have come from 
not having the love of a husband. I must here say 
that I have had, at times, in the society of those I love, 
a foretaste of what this could be. For years I never 
saw' a loving husband that I did not envy the wife; it 
was a cry of my heart for love. I used to ask God 
why He denied me this. I can see now why it was. I 
know it was God’s will for me to marry Mr. Nation. 
Had I married a man I could have loved, God could 
never have used me. Phrenologists who have ex¬ 
amined my head have said: “How can you, who are 
such a lover of home be without one?” The very 
thing that I was denied caused me to have a desire to 
secure it for others. Payne who wrote “Home Sweet 
Home” never had one. There is in my life a cause of 
sadness and bitter sorrow that God only knows. I 
shall not write it here. Oh! how the heart will break 
almost for a loving word! I believe the great want of 
the world is love. Jesus came to bring love to earth. 

During these severe afflictions I began to see how 
little there was in life. I wondered at the gaiety of 
people. It seemed as if a pall hung over the earth. I 
would wonder that the birds sung, or the sun would 
shine. I might say that for years this was my exper¬ 
ience. I would go to God, but got very little relief; 
yet I never gave up. It was all the hope I could see 
for me. About this time my little Charlien, who had 
been such a help to me, began to go into a decline, until 
she was taken down with typhoid fever. Her case was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


75 


violent and she was delirious from the first. This my 
only child was peculiar. She was the result of a 
drunken father and a distracted mother. The curse 
of heredity is one of the most heart-breaking results 
of the saloon. Poor little children are brought into 
the world with the curse of drink and disease entailed 
upon them. How can mothers be true to their off¬ 
spring with a constant dread of the nameless horrors 
wives are exposed to by being drunkards’ wives. Men 
will not raise domestic animals under conditions where 
the mothers may bring forth weak or deformed off¬ 
spring. Frances Willard says, “Right generation is 
the greatest problem of the race,” the ignorance of the 
mothers and the ignorance and vice of the fathers is 
given to the children, before they are born, and these 
feeble and deformed minds and bodies with the de¬ 
praved appetites threatens to deteriorate the human 
family, and we will be a race of idiots and insane people 
if something isn’t done; as Jesus says, “Unless these 
days be shortened, no flesh can be saved.” Matt. 24:22. 
I heard of a mother who was wise enough to under¬ 
stand pre-natal influence. She said she was going to 
have a literary family and when she expected to be a 
mother she read eagerly all the good literary writings, 
she had what she prepared for. 

If girls were taught that a drunkard’s curse will in 
the nature of things include his children and also that 
if either parent allowed bad thoughts or actions to 
c.orne into their lives, that their offspring will be a re¬ 
production of their own sins, they would avoid these 
men, and men will give up their vice before they will 
give up women. 


76 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


My precious child seemed to have taken a perfect 
dislike to Christianity. This was a great grief to me, 
and I used to pray to God to save her soul at any cost; 
I often prayed for bodily affliction on her, if that was 
what would make her love and serve God. Anything 
for her eternal salvation. 

Her right cheek was very much swollen, and on ex¬ 
amination we found there was an eating sore inside 
her cheek. This kept up in spite of all remedies, and 
at last the whole of her right cheek fell out, leaving the 
teeth bare. My friends and boarders were very angry 
at the physician, saying she was salivated. From the 
first something told me this is an answer to your pray¬ 
er. At this time, when her life was dispaired of, I 
had an intense longing to save my child, who was so 
dear to me. I said: “Oh, God, let me keep a piece of 
my child.” A minister said: “Don’t pray for the life 
of your child: she will be so deformed it were better 
she were dead.” I could not feel this way. After be¬ 
ing at death’s door for nine days, she began to re¬ 
cover. The wound in her face healed up to a hole 
about the size of a twenty-five cent piece. Her jaws 
closed and remained so for eight years. The sickness 
of my daughter and the keeping up of the hotel was 
such a tax on my mind, that for months transactions 
would recede from my memory. For instance, if any¬ 
one told me something, in an hour I could not tell 
whether it had been hours, days or months since it 
was told me. I have never entirely recovered from 
this, still being forgetful of names, dates and circum¬ 
stances, unless they are particularly impressed upon 
my mind. When I could afford it, I took my child. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


77 


then twelve years old, down to Galveston, put her un¬ 
der the care of Dr. Dowell for the purpose of closing 
the hole in her cheek. I had to leave the little one 
down there among strangers, for I could not afford 
to stay with her. A mother only will know what this 
means. After four operations the place was closed up 
in her cheek, still her mouth was closed, her teeth close 
together. I suffered torture all these years for fear 
she might strangle to death. I took her to San An¬ 
tonio, Texas, to Dr. Herff, and he and his two sons 
removed a section of the jawbone, expecting to make 
an artificial joint, enabling her to use the other side 
of her jaw. After all this, the operation was a failure, 
and her jaws closed up again. We, in the meantime, 
moved to Richmond from Columbia. We became very 
successful in the hotel business and I saved money 
enough to send her to New York City, where her 
father, Dr. Gloyd, had a cousin, Dr. Messinger, who 
would see that she had the best care possible. None 
of the surgeons there gave her any hope of opening 
her jaws. She went to Dr. John Weyth to have him 
perform an operation of plastic surgery; that is, he 
cut off a flap from under her chin, turning it over the 
scar on her cheek. 

Although Charlien was not a Christian, she had 
faith in God. Once she complained of my being too 
strict with her, but said: “Mamma I owe it to you that 
I have any faith in God, even if you are severe with 
me.” She always believed that her mother had a God. 
Finding no physician in New York who could open her 
jaws, she wrote me this: “No one but God can open 
my mouth, Mamma; ask him to do it.” There was a 


78 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Catholic woman, Miss Doregan, who boarded with me, 
who had a store around the corner from the hotel, and 
1 could think of no one else who had as much faith as 
this woman. She said she believed that God would 
heal my child according to prayer, so I went for seven 
mornings before breakfast to this saint of God. She 
taught me many holy truths and she explained the 
Scriptures to me. I learned from her a prayer that we 
said in concert, that was written by one of the Old 
Fathers, and is one of the most complete in devotion 
I have ever read. 1 will record it here: 

“Come Holy Ghost send down those beams, 

That sweetly flow in silent streams, 

From thy bright throne above; 

Oh, Come Father of the poor, 

Thou bounteous source of all our store; 

Come fire our hearts with love. 

Come thou of comforters the best, 

Come thou the soul’s delicious guest, 

The pilgrim’s sweet relief: 

Thou art our rest in toil and sweat, 

Refreshment in excessive heat 
And solace in our grief. 

Oh! sacred light shoot home the darts, 

Oh! pierce the center of those hearts 
Whose faith aspires to thee. 

Without thy God-head nothing can 
Have any worth or price in man, 

Nothing can harmless be.” 

“Lord wash our sinful stains away, 

Water from heaven our barren clay, 

Our wounds and bruises heal. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


79 


To thy sweet yoke our stiff necks bow, 

Warm with thy fire our hearts of snow, 

Our wandering feet repair. 

Oh, grant thy faithful dearest Lord, 

Whose only hope is thy sure word, 

The seven gifts of thy spirit. 

Grant us in life to obey thy grace, 

Grant us in death to see thy face 
And endless joys inherit, 

Through the same Christ our Lord.” “Amen.” 

And now I often use this beautiful comprehensive 
petition to my Dear Lord. 

Charlien wrote that she had letters of introduction 
to a physician in Philadelphia, Dr. J. Ewing Mears, 
but in every letter would say: “Keep on praying.” 
This we did. Oh, the anxiety of my mother heart! 
Mv duties as landlady kept me busy all day and part 
of the night. I often had to do my own cooking. 

God was good to me and we were very successful 
financially, and managed to meet all debts and pay¬ 
ments on the property we had purchased. 

After I knew the operation had been performed in 
Philadelphia, I telegraphed to Charlien. The answer 
came from the physician: “All right,” but my anxiety 
was intensified. I became almost wild with anxiety, 
and I determined to go to her. I borrowed four hun¬ 
dred dollars, and in three hours I was on my way to 
my precious suffering one. As soon as I got on the 
train a sense of divine guidance came to me. 

When I arrived at the hospital, I had the nurse take 
me to my child’s room. I cannot describe the meet¬ 
ing. She was packing up her clothes. I said: “Why 


80 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


are you doing this?” Then she told me this pitiful 
story: “Mamma, you did not send me any money, and 
the Doctor and nurse seemed dissatified, so I took most 
of my clothes down to a soup house and pawned them, 
that the woman may give me a room and soup until I 
could hear from you.” 

This was horrible to think of. I had sent her money, 
but like some others, Charlien never knew the value of 
money. I had her on my lap and we were crying to¬ 
gether. Just to think, in ten minutes more my child 
might have been gone, and I might not have found her 
for some time. Her mouth opened half an inch, and 
as she talked, I noticed that the side of her face the 
jaw bone had been taken from, was moving as she 
chewed a piece of gum. I placed my hands on each 
side of her face and said: “Now chew. Well, this is 
just like God; he has not only opened your mouth, but 
has given you a new jaw bone. My darling you know 
that the bone from this side was taken out.” “Yes,” 
she said, “I told Dr. Mears that, but he said it could 
not be.” 

I told him I saw the bone and teeth that were taken 
out. So in answer to prayer, God had wrought this 
miracle. 

I stayed there six weeks with her. She went to see 
the doctor three times a week. He used to pry to 
open her jaws, which was very painful to her but she 
gradually grew better. We were so happy in each 
other’s society. I took her every place to see sights 
in that grand, philanthropic city. I believe Phila¬ 
delphia, “Brotherly Love,” has more evidence of the 
meaning of the name than any city I have ever seen. 


5 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


81 


The “BreakfastAssociation” for redeemed men has no 
equal in its Christ-like work. When I left New York 
for Kansas, I bought two tickets, one from New York 
to Chicago and another one from there on. When I 
went to check my trunk I found one ticket was gone. 
I had only about three or four dollars, not enough to 
get me another ticket. This was at Fulton Ferry. I 
turned and walked out going toward the elevated road, 
looking as I went for my ticket. I prayed God to help 
me find it. I walked about the streets as if in a dream. 
Wishing to learn where I was, I crossed the street to 
ask a policeman. Seeing a paper at his feet I picked 
it up and it was my lost ticket. Joshua made the sun 
stand still by prayer. Elijah closed the heavens from 
raining on the earth and raised the dead. It is not 
strange that God should answer my prayer in this case. 

In six weeks I returned home leaving Charlien, who 
went to Vermont to visit some of her father’s relatives, 
the Gloyds. She was gone six months, came home and 
married and continued to live in Richmond, Texas. 
For a year she and her husband lived with me; also 
Mr. Nation’s daughter, Lola, was married and living 
with me, and mother Gloyd, now eighty-six years old, 
was there. My cares now were so heavy many times 
that I could not attend religious worship as I wished. 
Sunday morning I frequently gathered my servants in 
the dining-room, and there we read and studied the 
Bible. I had great heaviness of heart, because I had 
no time to meditate and study the scriptures. I saw 
I was only living to feed the perishing bodies of men 
and women. I would frequently go upstairs and pros¬ 
trate myself on the floor, crying to God for-deliver- 


82 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


ance from my present surroundings, telling Him over 
and over, “If he would free me I zvould do for Him 
what he couldn't get anyone else to do ” How literal¬ 
ly this has been fulfilled, for God held me to my vow, 
and what Carry A. Nation has done is what no one 
else has; not only in the instance of smashing saloons, 
but in other work. My life beyond dispute has been 
marvelous and no one that will stop to consider but 
will know and must admit that an unseen power, one 
super-human, has upheld me, “not by might, nor by 
power, but bv my Spirit, saith the Lord/’ Zech. 4:6: 


CHAPTER V. 


THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST.-REJECTED AS A 

BIBLE TEACHER IN METHODIST AND EPISCOPALIAN 

CHURCHES.-TAUGHT IN HOTEL DINING-ROOM.- 

VISION, WARNING AND BLESSING.-ENTERTAINING 

ANGELS.-THE JEWS.-PRAYER FOR RAIN AND AN¬ 
SWER.-GOD’S JUDGMENT ON THE WICKED.-MOVED 

TO KANSAS.-DEATH OF MOTHER GLOYD.-SERMON OF 

A CATHOLIC PRIEST. 

In this chapter I will tell of God’s leading. I say of 
my life, “This is the Lord’s doings and marvelous in 
our eyes.” Ps. 118:23. A Methodist conference was 
held in Richmond, Texas, about the year 1884. I at¬ 
tended. The minister read the thirty-fifth chapter of 
Isaiah. From the time he began reading I was mar¬ 
velously affected. Paul said it was not “lawful” or 
possible to utter some things. 2 Cor. 12 :L There was 
a halo around the minister. I was wrapt in ecstacy. 
My first impression was that an angel was talking and 
that the house was ascending to heaven. I felt my 
natural heart expanding to an enormous size. I look¬ 
ed to see what impression was made on the people in 
the audience. I saw one man nodding. I was sur¬ 
prised, for no one seemed at all astonished or delight¬ 
ed. 

At the close of the meeting I tried to find out the 
meaning. No one felt as I did. I went to a saintly 
woman, Mrs. Ruth Todd, and asked her about the ser¬ 
mon. She had felt nothing remarkable. I had never 


84 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


been taught that anyone but the Apostles in Jesus’ 
time got the gift of the Holy Ghost, or I would have 
understood this wonderful state. I then and there 
openly consecrated myself to God, telling my friends 
that “from henceforth ail my time, means and efforts 
should be given to God.’’ (Mr. Nation in his petition 
for divorce said that up to this year I had been a good 
wife.) I was often considered crazy, on the subject 
of religion. When I spoke to people I would ask 
them, “If they loved GodI could not refrain from 
this; the servant in the kitchen, the guest, the mer¬ 
chant, the market man; I felt impelled by divine love 
for the souls of men. 

God had given me an intense love for souls, and one 
was as precious as another to me. I now see what the 
enlarging of my heart meant. I now know that God 
was putting the whole world in my heart. Once an 
old colored man brought into the kitchen some eggs to 
sell. I said: “Uncle, do you love God?” He turned 
to my cook Fannie and said: “Hear dat.” Fannie said: 
“Oh! Mrs. Nation knows the Lord.” Uncle said: 
“Thank God one white woman got ligen,” clapped his 
hands and praised God. It used to be and is now the 
sweetest music to have anyone praise God. I am at 
church often, when I long to hear a loud shout of 
praise go up to the giver of every good and perfect 
gift. (Jas. 1:17.) It is torture to attend the cold, 
dead service of most of the churches. 

I was a teacher in the Methodist Sunday school and 
had given perfect satisfaction up to this time; but 
things changed. The minister said from the pulpit 
that the teachers should be Methodists, and spoke so 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


85 


pointedly that all knew he meant me. The superin¬ 
tendent at the Episcopal Sunday school asked me to 
teach in their Sunday school. I did so, and things 
went smoothly for a while. 

Father Denroach was the minister, and one morning 
he asked the school questions out of the catechism. 
My class could not answer. I arose and said: “Father 
Denroach, I do not teach my class the catechism,, I use 
only God’s word.” “What objection do you find to 
the catechism?” he asked. I replied: “I cannot teach 
the Bible and catechism, for one contradicts the other. 
The gospel is to be believed and obeyed and a Chris¬ 
tian is a follower of Christ. The catechism in the first 
lesson asks this question: ‘What is your name ? Bob, 
Tom or John.’ ‘When did you get that name?’ ‘In 
my baptism, when I was made a Christian.’ Baptism 
never did make a Christian. Infants cannot be made 
Christians, they cannot follow Christ, cannot believe 
or obey the Gospel. Jesus said: ‘Of such is the King¬ 
dom of Heaven.’ Now if I teach my class that the 
state of being a Christian is something they get with¬ 
out the exercise of their will, I contradict what I have 
been teaching.” The dear old man walked up and 
down the aisle shaking his robes. I said: “A house 
divided against itself cannot stand. You must have 
an Episcopalian teacher to teach your doctrine.” So 
I was shut out from teaching in the only two churches 
in Richmond. 

I could not be satisfied. I tried to get the Methodist 
church for a Mission school in the afternoon, but 
failed. I got plank for seats and after dinner on 
Lord’s Day I had my hotel dining-room seated and 


86 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


gathered all the little ones I could. These were largely 
children who went to no Sunday school. I got five 
Catholic children to attend. We had an attendance of 
from thirty to forty. We bought an organ, had our 
charts and maps. One poor saloon keeper named 
Frost came several times and always gave a dollar. 
He was killed in the fight between the Jaybirds and 
Peckerwoods in Richmond. This work was a blessing 
to my soul and I have seen happy results from that 
little school. I kept this up until I left there for Kan¬ 
sas. The last Sunday we all went to the graveyard to 
study our lesson. I wished by this to impress the little 
ones with the purpose of the Gospel. 

I have had visions and dreams that I know were 
sent to me by my Heavenly Father to warn or comfort 
or instruct me. I notice my dreams, not all, but I can 
tell the significant ones, usually by the impression they 
make on me. The dream that comes to me just before 
waking up generally means something to me. To 
dream of snakes has always been a bad omen to me. 
When I first started out smashing, while in Wichita 
jail, I dreamed of two enormous snakes, one on one 
side of a road, the other on the other; one raised to 
strike me, the other made no move. I was impressed 
that the one that was the most venomous and in the 
attitude of striking me with its fangs was the Republi¬ 
can party, and this has been my deadly foe. 

VISION, WARNING AND BLESSING. 

I will here relate a vision I had: One cold night in 
March, 1889, I heard a groan across the hall. It was 
about three o’clock in the morning. I found the sufifer- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


87 


er to be an old gentleman who was having very severe 
cramps, so I went down to the kitchen to make a mus¬ 
tard plaster. The hotel was a frame building, having 
twenty-one rooms, and about five or six cottages 
around the main building. We carried no insurance, 
and so many would say we had a “fire-trap” there. 
We had a mortgage on the place, and I was kept in 
terror constantly for fear of fire, and would often 
spring out of bed at night in my sleep, expecting to 
see a fire. 

I lit a candle, went down stairs through several dark 
halls. Then I went upstairs again and gave the old 
man the plaster; afterwards returning to the kitchen, 
thinking probably that I had left the candle burning. 
Things were all dark, but when I started up the stairs, 
there seemed to be a light shining behind me, which 
would come and go in flashes, as I ascended. I looked 
everywhere to see where it came from, but discovered 
it to be an unnatural manifestation. It followed me 
until I got to my room door. It did not alarm me. I 
felt the sweet, peaceful presence of God. I prayed to 
him and I could think of no reason for having this 
blessing from God, except that I had gotten up in the 
cold to relieve this suffering* man. I stood by my bed 
for a short time praying to God, and thanking him for 
his goodness to me. I thought Mr. Nation was asleep, 
but he afterwards told me that he heard me whisper¬ 
ing. I slept until late, and when I did go down to 
breakfast, Mr. Nation and Alex, my son-in-law, were 
at the table. I told them I had a warning last night, 
and if I had a Daniel or Joseph they could interpret 
a vision I had. I told them of the peculiar light, but 


88 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


they paid very little attention to it; being very busy I 
thought no more of it that day. 

Just about three o’clock the next morning, I was 
awakened by the cry of fire. Charlien screamed from 
the next room: “Mamma, the town is on fire.” I ran 
out and the whole heavens seemed to be on fire. It had 
originated in a drugstore and was sweeping towards 
the hotel. I immediately ran upstairs and began to 
pray. I told God “There wasn’t a dishonest dollar so 
far as I knew in the house, and that He told me to call 
on Him in a day of trouble, (Ps. 50:15) and said, 
“this is my day of trouble, and begged He would hear 
me. Many of the guests passed by, some of them with 
baggage in their hands and some still dressing. 
I prayed until I seemed to get an answer of security. 
One lady, Mrs. Moore, the wife of a physician, who 
had boarded with me a long time, had a very elegant 
set of furniture, and she called to me several times to 
take my things out of the hotel. She had two colored 
men moving her furniture, I heard her say to several 
persons: “That woman has lost her mind.” All the 
boarders had their trunks out and everyone was saying 
to me: “Why don’t you try to save your furniture?” 
I would take hold of some things to take out, but it 
seemed something would intimate, “Let it be.” I 
walked down the street and Mr. Blakely, one of the 
men who was killed in the Jaybird and Peckerwood 
battle in Richmond said: “Are you insured?” 

I said: “Yes, up there,” pointing to Heaven. 

All fear was gone, and now in the time of almost 
certain danger I was confident of deliverance, when 
before I had been nervous, in time when all was secure 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


89 


At last the cry came in: “You are saved.” I went in 
the hotel office, sat down by the stove and Alex, my 
son-in-law, was by me. I said to him: “Oh, Alex, my 
vision!” He looked almost paralyzed, for I had told 
him it was a warning and all the circumstances. From 
that day to this I have never had any fear of fire. 

ENTERTAINING ANGELS UNAWARES. 

One noon I was busy with the guests and waiting 
on the tables, and going to the kitchen I saw sitting 
on the wood-box a poor dejected looking creature, a 
man about twenty-four years of age. He asked me if 
I had any tinware to mend. I told him, “No, but you 
can have your dinner.” 

He said: “I don’t want any.” He looked the picture 
of despair. 

I said: “Don’t go until I can speak to you.” 

When I had time I told him I wanted some one to 
wash dishes. He consented to stay, and I felt at that 
time I must care for that poor creature or he would 
die. He stayed with us three years and proved to be 
a jewel. All the rest of my help was colored, and gen¬ 
erally speaking, white and colored help do not assim¬ 
ilate, but they all had profound respect for Smith. He 
soon owned his horse and did the draying for the hotel. 
Then he got to be a clerk, and bought pecans for the 
northern market. All his family had died from con¬ 
sumption, and he was traveling for his health. He 
left us for Pierce’s Sanitarium, Buffalo, N. Y., and 
stayed there some time for treatment. He ran a little 
booth by the Niagara Bridge, and soon accumulated 


90 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


quite a little sum. He became a Christian and mar¬ 
ried. I often got letters from him expressing so much 
gratitude. He was an infidel when he first came, and 
he said it was my influence that made him a Christian. 

I often had the Orthodox Jews to stop with me. 
They ate nothing that contained lard; their food was 
mackerel, eggs, bread and cofifee. The rates were two 
dollars a day, but I charged them only one dollar, and 
allowed them to pay their bills with something that 
was in their “pack.” My other guests would often re¬ 
gard them with almost scorn, but when they were at 
their meals I would wait on them myself, showing 
them this preference, for I could not but respect their 
sacrifice for the sake of their religion. I have always 
treated the Jews with great respect. Our Savior was 
a Jew and said: “Salvation is of the Jews.” (John 
4:22.) They are a monument to the truth of the 
Scriptures, a people without a country; and though 
they are wanderers upon the face of the earth, they 
retain their characteristics more than any other peo¬ 
ple have ever done. If an Italian, German or French¬ 
man comes to America, in a hundred years he becomes 
thoroughly an American, losing the peculiarities of his 
descent. But wherever a Jew goes no matter how long 
he stays he remains a Jew. This can be said of no 
other people on earth. 

I know by experience that the Jews are tricksters, 
but they have almost been forced into their cupidity in 
getting money, yet the greatest promise of deliverance 
in the Bible is for that nation. The foundation stones 
of heaven and the pearly gates are named for the 
twelve tribes. No Christian should scorn a Jew. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


91 


One of the most pitiful and disgusting things that 
I meet is a Jew, who has renounced his religion. The 
reason why we Christians know so much of God is 
because He showed so much of His power, love and 
mercy to the Jews. 

One day I was driving down the street of Rich¬ 
mond in a buggy, and Mr. Blakely, the merchant I 
dealt so much with, and also a member of the Meth¬ 
odist church, stopped me, saying, that he had some¬ 
thing to say to me: 

“Your friends are becoming very uneasy about the 
state of your mind. You are thinking too much on re¬ 
ligious subjects, and they asked me to warn you.” 

This gave me a blessed assurance, and I laughed 
very heartily saying: “I have the religion of the Bible 
or a Bible religion and the world cannot understand 
it.” (I. Cor. 2:14.) 

I was naturally ambitious and was very fond of nice 
furniture, china and dainty things, but I have lost all 
taste for these, and stopped making fashionable calls, 
for I have seen the vanity and wickedness in fashion¬ 
able society and costly dressing. I educated myself to 
look at things as I thought God would, and this change 
came about after that transaction between my soul and 
God, at the Methodist church, which I know was the 
“Baptism of the Holy Ghost;” but did not know then 
what it was. I had been born in the Christian church, 
and was taught that only the Apostles had received 
that gift. I never knew what to call this experience 
until three years after when I went to Kansas, and had 
it explained to me by the Free Methodists, and where 
God gave me a witness that it was true. 


92 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


We had quite a drought in Texas, everything was 
parched and burning up, and great concern was felt 
by all. Charlien said to me one day: “Mamma why 
don’t you pray for rain?” 

I was so struck with the idea that I went to the 
church that night and proposed that we pray for rain. 
So four ladies were elected to appoint a special meet¬ 
ing. The minister’s wife, Mrs. Todd, Mrs. Blakely 
and myself were the four. We met and we said the 
first thing is to agree. The minister’s wife began to 
crv and said: 

“I have read of so many thunderbolts lately, that I 
am almost afraid to pray;” and Mrs. Blakely repeated 
the same, but I told the women this was doubting God 
in the beginning. 

“ Tf you ask for bread, will He give you a stone.’ 
(Matt. 7:9.) I am willing to trust God who said: 
‘Ask and ye shall receive,” (John 16:24,) and let Him 
send the rain any way He pleases.” This was finally 
agreed upon, and the next afternoon the citizens of 
the town were called to the church to pray for rain. 

After the meeting, we were standing on the plat¬ 
form in front of the church, and a sprinkle of rain out 
of a cloudless sky fell on the platform, and on the 
shutters of the house. This was nothing but a mir¬ 
acle, and was very astonishing to us all. The next day 
the clouds began to gather in the sky, and the moisture 
began, at first, to fall like heavy dew. There was no 
lightning or thunder and the rain came down in the 
gentlest manner and continued in this way three days. 
With this marvelous manifestation in direct answer to 
prayer, many people said: “We would have had the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


93 


rain any wav.” “The ox knoweth his owner, and the 
ass his master’s crib, but Israel doth not know, my peo¬ 
ple doth not consider.” (Isa. 1:3.) 

I began to think what I should do to fulfill my vow 
to God, for I vowed to return to Him something for 
rain, to show my gratitude for what I had seen done. 
There was an old man, about seventy years old, entire¬ 
ly destitute, whose name was Bestwick. I went to see 
him, asked him to come to the hotel and make his 
home there. There was also a poor German girl, 
named Fredricka. I also gave her board at the hotel. 
These two stayed with me free of charge as long as 
I lived in Richmond. 

There were two political factions in Richmond at 
this time, one called the “Jaybirds” and the other 
“Peckerwoods.” The latter were people that were in 
favor of the negro holding offices. This party had con¬ 
trol of the country for some time. The head of this 
party was Garvey, the sheriff. The head of the former 
was Henry Frost, a saloon-keeper, and to this belonged 
nearly all the young men of Richmond. 

Mr. Nation was correspondent for the Houston Post 
and he wrote a letter speaking of the bad influence 
and conduct of these young men the night before ; 
screaming about the streets and disturbing the peace 
generally. He went down to meet the trains about 
twelve o’clock at night. The next night after the 
article appeared in the Post , he came in and woke me 
up saying: “Wife get up; I have been beaten almost 
to death;” and lighting a lamp, I found that his body 
was covered with bruises. I bathed him in cold water 
and otherwise tried to relieve him. He was too faint 


94 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


to tell me the trouble, only the boys had beaten him. I 
knelt down by the window to pray to God. I began 
by calling on God to send a punishment on people that 
would do such a mean, cowardly act. I prayed until 
I received perfect deliverance from that kind of a 
spirit, and when I got up from off my knees, it was 
four o’clock in the morning. 

In this crowd was a family of Gibson boys, whose 
father was an infidel, and encouraged his sons in this 
matter and in all their bad ways. There were also 
other boys, Peason, Little, Winston; twenty-one in all. 
A man by the name of Henry George asked Mr. Na¬ 
tion to come and sit on a bale of cotton on the depot 
platform, and talk with him; another one of these boys 
came up and threw Mr. Nation backwards on the plat¬ 
form. Then each one gave him a hit with a stick, or 
a cane. I don’t think there are but two or three of 
those boys living now. After moving to Kansas, a 
few months after this I returned to Texas for a visit. 
I then looked upon the graves of four of the Gibsons. 
“Truly, vengeance is mine, I will repay,” saith the 
Lord. (Rom. 12:19.) 

Mr. Nation was very unpopular with the “Jaybird” 
faction, because they said no Republican should stay 
in Fort Bend County. The bitterness between these 
two factions broke out in a war. Garvey and Frost 
with three others were killed. Before this animosity 
between them arose, Richmond was a very pleasant 
place to live. A great deal of sociability existed among 
the people, but from this time business and social rela¬ 
tions were almost entirely ruined. 

I visited Richmond in 1902, and I never saw such a 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


95 


difference. The Galveston storm greatly damaged 
many of the houses, and the ruins were still there. A 
pall of death seemed to be over the whole place, and 
one coming into the town would feel a desire to leave 
it as quickly as possible, if there was not some interest 
independent of the town. God said: “They shall eat 
the fruit of their doing.” (Isa. 3:10.) Still in Rich¬ 
mond God has those who have not bowed their knees 
to Baal. (I. Kings 19:18.) 

Mr. Nation’s life was threatened and we had to 
leave. He went to Kansas where he had a brother. 
After an application he took charge of a Christian 
church at Medicine Lodge, Barber County, Kansas. 
This is January, 1904, and we moved to Kansas about 
fourteen years ago. 

We traded the hotel for property in Medicine Lodge. 
Charlien, Lola and their husbands moved to themselves 
and mother Gloyd would consent to stay away from 
me only until we could get settled in Kansas. She had 
her trunk prepared for the journey. She was now 
eightv-six years old, but had remarkable vitality. I 
said: 

“Mother you had better stay here the rest of your 
life, for Kansas is much colder than this climate.” 

But she replied: “I came from Vermont and it is 
very cold there.” 

She followed me to the train, and when I went to 
leave her she placed her arms around me and her head 
on my breast. Her last words were: “I have lived with 
you and I want to die with you.” Oh, how I disliked 
to leave her! This was the last time I saw her dear, 


96 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


sweet face. We had lived together as constant com¬ 
panions for twenty-three years. 

Before I left Richmond, I requested of two of my 
dear friends, Mrs. Connor and Mrs. Todd, that if 
mother ever got sick, they would stay by her until the 
last. In a year from this time she died, being sick only 
three days. These dear friends stayed by her side 
until the last. A telegram was sent to me when she 
was first taken sick, and I wanted to go, but I had no 
money of my own, and Mr. Nation would not consent. 
I have never ceased to be sorry for it. 

I was very much pleased when I first went to Kan¬ 
sas, for it was a great relief from burdens. We board¬ 
ed six months. After the year was up, Mr. Nation 
went to Holton, Kansas, and took charge of a church 
there. He went before I did, and to save shipping our 
horse and buggy, I drove through. In order to get a 
good start and directions for my journey, I went to 
Bro. Ed. Crouce, who lived on a farm about five miles 
from town. Our horse was not very safe for he had 
a way of balking. Bro. Crouce told me to give him 
a severe cut across the back and give him the reins if 
he attempted to balk. I tried this on two occasions, 
following his directions. The horse reared up and 
acted in a way that terrified me, but I conquered and 
for ten years I drove that horse. He was a noble beast 
with almost human sense. This journey was four hun¬ 
dred miles. For a hundred and fifty miles I was ac¬ 
companied by a young girl of sixteen years of age, who 
was a farmer’s daughter, and seemed to be afraid of 
nothing. She was a great inspiration to me, preparing 
me to drive the two hundred and fifty miles alone. The 


6 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


97 


great difficulty was in finding places to stop at night. 
I got so I did not look for large roomy houses for en¬ 
tertainment, but the smaller ones. I found out that 
the friends of the poor are the poor. Mr. Nation met 
me at Topeka and he was so pleased that he said: “You 
shall have this horse and buggy for your own.” 

Holton was thirty miles north and we drove up to¬ 
gether. 

I began to have a contempt for popular preaching, 
keeping apart from “clicks” and “sets.” I knew that 
my husband ought not to be in the ministry. I do not 
believe he was ever a converted man. This made me 
very miserable, putting us in a false light before the 
people. It was my desire to serve God in a simple, 
humble way. Before the year was out because of 
some dissatisfaction in the church between Mr. Na¬ 
tion and the board, we left Holton. I then drove back 
to Medicine Lodge alone, enjoying my trip very much. 
Mr. Nation never took charge of a church again. He 
was a man well versed in law, and at one time rendered 
valuable service in prosecuting liquor cases in Medi¬ 
cine Lodge. 

When I lived in Texas and was keeping hotel in 
Richmond, one cold rainy morning, a lot of men came 
in from the train. 

I took special notice of one man. His hands were 
that of a woman, his face was very refined, but his 
clothes were shabby. He was sitting by himself and 
I said to him: “You must excuse me but you look so 
much like a Catholic priest I once saw.” I did not then 
dream he was one. Next morning I sent one of the 
boys that waited on the table to see what was the mat- 


98 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


ter that he did not come down to breakfast. He was 
sick. I went up to see him and he told me he often had 
attacks of heart trouble; that he had fallen in a faint 
in the yard the night before. I asked him if he had 
any friends. He said: “No.” I asked him his busi¬ 
ness? “You guessed it last night,” he replied. Then 
he told me he was a Catholic priest. I was very much 
astonished for he had on a common suit with a red 
necktie. I then knew he was in trouble somewhere. 
He told me he had no money. I told him he was wel¬ 
come to stay as long as he wished. I gathered up some 
clean garments and did for him all I could. I felt glad 
to have this Catholic priest in my house. I resolved 
to ask him concerning their faith. He was one of the 
saddest men I ever saw and it made my heart ache to 
see him. I knew so well what it was to have “a heart 
bowed down with grief and woe,” and I saw in this 
poor creature desolation. I asked him if he should 
die, what sin he would have to repent of. He said: 
“I may have sinned in trying to fix up a home for poor 
priests who come into disfavor with the bishops.” His 
words were: “There is no one so helpless as a Catholic 
priest sent adrift. A boy ten years old knows as well 
how to make a living for himself. I have been from 
a boy, in a Jesuit College, St. John’s, near New York. 
You do not know the sorrows of a Catholic priest. Few 
know that so many priests are dying from heart di¬ 
sease. I am trying to get to San Antonio, for a priest 
there may help me some.” He stayed at the hotel five 
days. One evening he came into the parlor where there 
was quite a company, and I was astonished to see him 
so changed. He was no longer the shrinking, crest- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


99 


fallen man, but he seemed bright and joined in con¬ 
versation ; sang and played on the piano. I soon found 
out he had been drinking. I wanted to shield him from 
the scandal and made an excuse to call him from the 
room, and told him what I did this for. Next morn¬ 
ing he came down as “sad as night.” I said: “Are 
you going to leave?” “Yes,” he replied. I wrote a 
note to the conductor, whom I knew well; told him the 
condition of this poor man; told him to pass him to 
San Antonio. I had just three dollars, this I gave to 
him. Oh, the gratitude in the face of this poor man. 
He raised his hands and asked “Christ, and his mother, 
the holy martyrs, and the angels to bless me.” 

In a few days I heard of a priest from Cleveland, 
Ohio, who through gambling and drinking, had spent 
thirty thousand dollars of the church’s money and he 
was sent adrift. The name of this priest was John 
Kelley and on our hotel register the name of this priest 
was written “John Kelly.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

WHY MY NAME IS NOT ON A CHURCH BOOK, AND WHY 

THE MINISTERS WITHDREW FROM ME.-CLOSING THE 

DIVES OF MEDICINE LODGE.-CORA BENNETT AND WHY 

SHE KILLED BILLY MORRIS IN A DIVE IN KIOWA.- 

HER RESURRECTION.—RAIDING A JOINT DRUG-STORE. 

I soon saw that I was not popular with the church 
at Medicine Lodge. I testified to having received the 
“baptism of the Holy Ghost,” and the minister, Mr. 
Nicholson, took occasion to say that I was not sound 
in the faith. This church at this time had a board of 
deacons and elders, who I knew to be unworthy, some 
of them addicted to intoxicating drinks and other flag¬ 
rant sins. There was one man whose sincerity I never 
questioned, Mr. Smith, who had a good report from 
those in and out of the church. 

Mr. Nicholson, the preacher, used to go to a drug¬ 
store kept by a noted jointist and infidel. He would 
sit with him in front of his drug-store. I would re¬ 
buke him for “sitting in the seat of the scornful and 
standing in the way of sinners.” (Ps. 1:2.) 

Whenever I went visiting, I went where I felt I 
could do some good for Jesus, and at Thanksgiving 
and Christmas I invited the poor, crippled and blind, 
to a feast at my house as Jesus said to never invite 
those who were able to make a feast. (Luke 14:13.) 

There was a Mrs. Tucker, who was quite young and 
married to an old man. She worked hard, washing, 
to care for her five children. I would take her to 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


101 


church, and it was not long before she joined. There 
was rejoicing in Heaven, but none in the church at 
Medicine Lodge. For two years she attended church, 
and not an officer or member ever called to see her. I 
would visit her, and often take her clothes for her chil¬ 
dren, also read the Bible, and prayed with her. I did 
not wish her to notice the lack of all Christian fellow¬ 
ship, but she saw the cool way in which she was treat¬ 
ed and she stopped going to church. A false report 
of treachery was told to this minister by her unfeeling 
jealous husband, and without going to see this poor 
woman, it was decided to take her name from the 
church book. 

One Lord’s Day morning, before Mr. Nicholson 
commenced his sermon, he said: “It is the painful duty 
of the church to withdraw fellowship from Sister 
Tucker, who has been living in open adultery.” I was 
sitting in front, and I rose to my feet. 

Mr. Nicholson said: “You sit down, the elders will 
attend to this.” 

I said: “No, the elders will not, but I will. What 
you have said is not true about this woman. She has 
been a member of the church for two years, and neither 
you nor the elders, nor any member of this church 
have been in her home. I do for that woman what I 
would want some one to do for me, under the same 
circumstances. These elders never reclaim the erring 
or pray with the dying, but this poor little lamb has 
come in for shelter, and they are pulling the fleece off 
of her. 

All this time Mr. Nicholson was telling me in angry 
tones to “sit down.” He then called on the elders to 


102 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


take me out, came down from the pulpit, took me by 
the arm intending to put me out himself, but he could 
not move me. I turned to the audience, told them 
what the preacher said could not be proven. The 
Normal school was in session and there were many 
strangers present. I sat down as calmly as if nothing 
had happened, and waited until the close. 

Mr. Nicholson came to me after service and said: 
“We will settle your case.” 

I said: “ Do your worst and do your best.” 

That afternoon the elders met in the church, and 
withdrew from me because I was a “stumbling block,” 
and a disturber of the peace.” This was a grief to me, 
for my beloved father, mother, brothers and sisters 
belonged to this society of Christians, and I had, since 
I was a child ten years of age. I wept much over this, 
but I went to church as usual. 

T became very much interested in the prohibition 
cause, seeing the great advantage it was to Kansas, 
even with all the treachery of the officers. Brother 
Wesley Cain was pastor of the Baptist church in Med¬ 
icine Lodge, and.his wife was a noble souled woman, 
interested in everything that was good. The poor 
never applied to Brother Cain and his wife in vain. 
She often spoke of the W. C. T. U. work in Iowa 
where she had formerly lived. I spoke to her several 
times about organizing a W. C. T. U., and she did so 
and I was made Jail Evangelist. After that, upon the 
death of the county president, she asked me to fill that 
position and I did. 

Samson’s mother was the first woman we ever 
heard of taking the W. C. T. U. pledge and Almighty 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


103 


God required it of her. (Judges 13.) 

I was Jail Evangelist at this time for the W. C. T. 
U. and I learned that almost everyone who was in jail 
was directly or indirectly there from the influence of 
intoxicating drinks. I began to ask why should we 
have the result of the saloon, when Kansas was a pro¬ 
hibition state, and the constitution made it a crime to 
manufacture, barter, sell or give away intoxicating 
drinks? Saving for mechanical, medicinal or scienti¬ 
fic purposes, and here is the loop hole through which 
the dishonest druggist gets their work. When I went 
to Medicine Lodge there were seven dives where drink 
was sold. I will give some reasons why they were re¬ 
moved. I began to harass these dive-keepers, although 
they were not as much to blame as the city officials 
who allowed them to run. Mart Strong was a noted 
joint-keeper. He and his son, Frank, were both bad 
drinking characters, and would sell it every chance 
they got. Mart had a dive and I was in several times 
to talk to him, and he would try to flatter me and turn 
things into a joke. When he saw I did not listen to 
such talk, he treated me very rudely. One Saturday 
I saw quite a number of men go into his place, and I 
went in also. Saloons in Kansas generally have a front 
room to enter as a precaution, then a back room where 
the bar is. I didn’t get farther than the front, for 
Mart came hastily, taking me by the shoulders and 
said: “Get out of here, you crazy woman.” I was 
singing this song: 

Who hath sorrow? Who hath Woe? 

They who dare not answer no; 


104 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


They whose feet to sin incline, 

While they tarry at the wine. 

Chorus : . j 

They who tarry at the wine cup, 

They who tarry at the wine cup, 

They who tarry at the wine cup, 

They have sorrow they have woe. 

Who hath babblings, who hath strife ?. 

He who leads a drunkard’s life, 

He whose loved ones weep and pine, 

While he tarries at the wine. 

Who hath wounds without a cause? 

He who breaks God’s holy laws; 

He who scorns the Lord divine. 

While he tarries at the wine. 

Who hath redness at the eyes ? 

Who brings poverty and sighs? 

Unto homes almost divine, 

While he tarries at the wine? 

Touch not, taste not, handle not; 

Drink will make the dark, dark blot, 

Like an adder it will sting, 

And at last to ruin bring, 

They who tarry at the drink.” 

I continued to sing this, with tears running down 
my face. When I finished the song there was a great 
crowd; some of the men had tears in their eyes as well. 
James Gano, the constable, was standing near the door 
and said: “I wish I could take you off the streets.” I 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


105 


said: “Yes, you want to take me, a woman, whose 
heart is breaking to see the ruin of these men, the 
desolate homes and broken laws, and you a constable, 
oath-bound to close this man’s unlawful business.” 

The treatment I received at the hands of this Mart 
Strong was told to the mayor and councilmen, and 
there was great indignation. The councilmen went 
to Mart’s place that night. The door was locked and 
a number of gamblers were in there. The mayor 
forced the door open and told Mart Strong never to 
open business in the town again. He left next day, 
and this closed up one of the worst places in the town. 
Then there was Henry Durst, another jointist of long 
standing who was a German and had accumulated 
quite a lot of property by his dishonest business. He 
was a prominent Catholic. A Mrs. Elliott, a good 
Christian woman, came to my home crying bitterly 
and between sobs told me, that for six weeks her hus¬ 
band had been drinking at Durst’s bar, until he was 
crazy. She had been washing to feed her three chil¬ 
dren and for some days had nothing in the house but 
cornbread and molasses. She said that her husband 
had come in, wild with drink had run his family out of 
the house, and kicked over the table. She said: “I 
came to you to ask you what to do.” 

I did not speak a word, for I was too full of conflict¬ 
ings feelings; but I put on my bonnet and Sister Elliot 
asked me what I was going to do. I told her that I 
did not know, but for her to come with me. Walked 
down to Henry Durst’s place, a distance of half a mile. 
I fell down on my knees before the screen and began 
to call on God. There were five men in there drink- 


10‘6 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


ing. I was indifferent to those passing the street. It 
was a strange sight to see women on their knees on the 
most prominent part of the street. I told God about 
this man selling liquor to this woman’s husband, and 
told Him she had been washing to get bread, and 
asked God to close up this den and drive this man out. 
Mrs. Elliott also prayed. We then told this man that 
God would hear and that hell was his portion if he 
did not change. In a short time he closed his bar, left 
his family there, and went to another state. His prop¬ 
erty was sold gradually and he never returned, except 
to move his family away, and I heard afterwards he 
was reduced to poverty. 

Another jointist was named Hank O’Bryan. In 
passing his place one night from prayer-meeting, I 
smelled the horrid drink and went in. A man by the 
name of Grogan was there, half drunk, and I said: 
“You have a dive here.” Mr. Grogan replied: “No, 
Mother Nation, you are wrong, and I can prove it.” 

“Let me see what you have in the back room,” I 
asked. “All right, Mother,” he said, and took me 
through several passages, until I came to a very small 
room with a table covered with beer bottles, that had 
been recently emptied, and in one corner sat a man, 
Mr. Smith, a man from Sharon, who the W. C. T. U. 
had been talking of arresting for selling liquor in that 
town. Grogan introduced me to him, and he, Mr. 
Smith, looked terrified and astonished. I took up one 
of the bottles and asked what it had contained. His 
reply: “Hop Tea.” I asked: “What name is that on 
the label ?” It was “Anheuser-Busch,” but I could get 
neither of them to pronounce it. I turned up one of 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


107 


the bottles and put it to my lips and told them that it 
was beer, and that I could take an oath that it was. 
Grogan threw up his hands saying: “Now, Mother 
Nation, if you get me into trouble I will do something 
desperate.” I had visited this man Grogan in jail a 
year before this, where he was put for getting drunk 
and fighting. I said: “I do not wish to get either of 
you in trouble, but want to get you out.” I had my 
Bible with me and I opened it to several passages 
where drink was condemned, and told them where it 
would lead. I told them I would not speak of this to 
anyone. When I said I would not “tell on them” the 
look of gladness on their faces was pitiful to see. 

I said: “I am going to pray God to have mercy on 
you. Kneel down.” Like two obedient little children, 
they knelt. Some may smile at this, but I was deeply 
affected and felt a compassion and tenderness toward 
these poor men, whom the devil was leading captive at 
his will. That prayer I offered, was heard. 

In one week from that time this man Grogan came 
to my house, and fell down at my feet crying and 
wringing his hands saying: “Oh! Mrs. Nation I am 
going to hell, but it is not your fault and I came to ask 
you to pray for me.” He was in great agony of soul. 
He had been drinking until he was almost crazy. He 
left in about half an hour, saying he “was going to 
hell,” but I told him: No; to have faith in God and He 
would save him. 

This was the last I saw of him, but I heard after¬ 
wards that he had a small store in Wichita and was 
living in the rear of it with his family. The person 
who told me of him, said that he asked Mr. Grogan if 


108 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


he sold liquor. His answer was: “No, I got enough 
of that in Medicine Lodge.” 

Mr. Smith became a wreck, and lost his business in 
Sharon. After I came out of jail in Wichita the third 
time, I met a man on the street and he made himself 
known as the Smith of Sharon. He looked quite well 
and said he had quit drinking entirely and was a real 
estate dealer in Wichita. 

I soon heard of its being told around in Medicine 
Lodge that I drank beer in a dive. So I went to Hank 
O’Bryan’s restaurant and said: “Some of these joint- 
ists are telling that I drank in a dive. Now if it comes 
to the ears of the public, I will have to go on the wit¬ 
ness stand and tell where I drank beer.” Hank turned 
pale, looked comical and I never heard any more of 
that. 

There was a saloon keeper in Kiowa, named Billy 
Morris and living with him as his wife was a girl 
whose name was Cora Bennett. This poor girl had 
been living an irregular life, but was true to this man, 
who had promised her time after time to marry her, 
but was only deceiving her. She entered his bar room 
one day and told him he must fulfill his promise to her 
now, or she would kill him. He laughed at her. She 
fired a shot and killed him on the spot; then the poor 
girl fell on his dead body screaming in a distracted 
manner. She was arrested and brought to jail at 
Medicine Lodge; and was there six months. Being 
Jail Evangelist I went to see her, sometimes twice a 
week. When I first saw her she was reticent, and did 
not seem glad to see me. She was so nice, that I fell 
in love with her and I asked the ladies of the W. C. T. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


109 


U. to visit her, but they thought her a hopeless case. 
She bought a Bible and we would read and pray to¬ 
gether and talk about the need of Christ in our lives. 
She was a woman of great sympathy. I asked her 
once: “Did you ever love anyone.” She wept bitterly 
and said: “Yes, the man I killed.” 

Toward the last she seemed perfectly delighted 
when I came to her cell. She consented to go to a 
home where she would have friends who would keep 
her, to make a change in her life. The morning she 
left I went to the jail and rode with her in the hack 
to the depot and then to a town about twenty miles 
east of Medicine Lodge, called Attica. On the train 
from Medicine Lodge to Attica, the deputy sheriff had 
a man give this girl a letter from him, telling her to 
meet him at Wellington. The girl’s father lived at 
Attica, and an older sister of her’s met us. I could 
see the sister was not a good woman. She took Cora 
to a room and exchanged her modest clothes for a 
showy hat and elaborate silk dress; and when I saw 
her it almost broke my heart. I said to her: “Oh, 
Cora, all my work to save you is in vain.” I would 
rather have seen her drop dead, and I grieved all the 
way home. From Attica she went to Wellington, in¬ 
stead of Olathe, Kansas, where she was to enter this 
home. James Dobson was sheriff of Barber county, 
and his brother kept a saloon in Kiowa, the first saloon 
I ever smashed. 

I heard no good news of Cora for some years. She 
led a bad life. Five years later, through a W. C. T. 
U. lecturer, I heard that she was married and living 
in Colorado; and she was an efficient worker as a W. 


110 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


C. T. U. woman; among fallen women. She told of 
her past life and of a Mrs. Nation visiting her. This 
woman said it was so incredible to believe that Cora 
could have been so bad, and had taken a human life, 
that she was anxious to see the place in Kiowa and to 
see Cora’s prison cell, and meet me. I was then in 
Oklahoma, and 1 certainly rejoiced over this news 
from her I had learned to love. I saw in this wayward 
girl certain qualities that would be a power for good, 
if once God could have His way with her life. 

There are diamonds in the slush and filth of this 
world. Happy is he who picks them up and helps to 
wash the dirt away, that they may shine for God. I 
am very much drawn to my fallen sisters. Oh! the 
cruelty and oppression they meet with! If the first 
stone was cast by those who were guiltless, those who 
were to be stoned would rarely get a blow. 

o. l. day’s drug store. 

There was a druggist, O. L. Day, in Medicine Lodge 
who was unlawfully selling intoxicating liquor. He 
himself was drinking; as was his clerk. I was told of 
a deposit of this contraband goods. I put a little boy 
on my buggy horse and sent a letter to our dear Sister 
Cain, who was president of our local union. She called 
several of the women together at our W. C. T. U. 
room and told them what I knew of O. L. Day receiv¬ 
ing these intoxicants. There was a great deal of dis¬ 
cussion, but at last it was decided that we should in¬ 
vestigate. At that time I was regarded as a fanatic, 
and many of these were afraid for me to plan for them, 
so I kept very quiet. It was finally agreed that Mrs. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


Ill 


A. L. Noble and Mrs. Runyan should go first and see 
how matters were. Sister Runyan finally said before 
we got there: “Let Mrs. Nation go in my place.” I 
said: “Thank God!” Oh, I was so glad, for I felt that 
I could handle this case. 

O. L. Day was a gentleman by nature. He was a 
man with one fault, and that was alcoholism. Mrs. 
Noble said: “You do the talking.” While we were 
in the W. C. T. U. room discussing, Sister Runyan 
said: “I will not have aything to do with this if Mrs. 
Nation does.” I kept still, praying for the raid to go 
through, even if I was not in it; and when it came to 
the point, I had just what I wanted. I felt entirely 
equal to the occasion. Sister Runyan did not under¬ 
stand me then, for we are the best of friends and she 
has been true to me in my efforts to defend the homes 
of Kansas. I told Mr. Day, we as a W. C. T. U. 
thought he had not been dealing fairly, and I looked 
at his little back room suspiciously, as much as to say: 
“I would like to see what you have in there.” He said: 
“Ladies would you like to go in that room?” I said: 
“Yes.” I knew I could discover the secret. I saw be¬ 
hind the prescription case a ten gallon keg. I said to 
myself: “That is a find.” About this time the rest of 
the women, accompanied by Sister Cain, came in the 
front door. Mr. Day was as white as death all the 
time. As soon as he went to the front I smelled the 
keg bung. I turned it on one side and rolled it to the 
front saying; “Women, this is the whiskey!” Mr. 
Day’s clerk caught the end of the keg to turn it out 
of my hands and on the other side of it was Jim Gano, 
the marshal, who I think hauled all the divekeepers’ 


112 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


goods to them. Nine years have passed since this oc¬ 
curred and this is the third edition of my book. Mr. 
Gano is a man with a kind heart and generous, but 
drink was his enemy. An intimate friend in speaking 
of Mr. Gano, said: “Jim is just as much opposed to 
whiskey as you are, he is a changed man.” I said to 
him once when we were quarrelling, which we often 
did, and I referred to his beautiful boy Jerry who was 
then not more than fifteen, “How would you like to 
see that boy drink liquor?” Mr. Gano replied: “He 
can drink all he wants too like his daddy.” I said: 
“Never mind you will live to eat those words.” And 
he has. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap.” (Gal. 6 :7.) I then placed a foot on each side of 
the keg and held it firm with both feet and hands. Jim 
Gano sprang in front of me and with his chest against 
my head, I thought certainly he would break my neck. 
I called to the women to help me. Mrs. Noble caught 
him by one side of the collar and some one the other 
side and held him back against the counter until I could 
roll the keg out into the street. All this time Sister 
Cain, like a general, was saying: “Don’t any one touch 
these women. They are right. They are Christian wo¬ 
men, trying to save the boys of our state.” I called 
for a hatchet from the hardware store of Mr. Case. 
He was very angry and said: “No!” He also, was 
drinking too much. I called to Mrs. Noble to get a 
sledge hammer from the blacksmith shop across the 
street. She did and handed it to me. I struck with all 
my might. The whiskey flew high in the air. The wo¬ 
men came near to pour it out, but I said: “Save some.” 
So Sister Runyan got a bottle and filled it. Then we 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 113 

poured it out and set it afire. I fell on my knees in 
the middle of the street and thanked God for this vic¬ 
tory. Dr. Gould, a man “fit for treason, stratagem and 
spoils/’ was the one to help Day dispose of these 
drinks, as many doctors do. This doctor gave out that 
this was “California Brandy,” costing seventy-five dol¬ 
lars. that he had advised Day to get it for medical pur¬ 
poses. 

Mr. Day was at this time getting a permit to sell it 
for medical purposes. He appeared in court to prove 
he was a graduate pharmacist, never drank, and never 
had a clerk that did. The W. C. T. U. were there in 
a body. We contested his right to have the permit. 
Poor man. I pitied him. He was very much under 
the influence of intoxicants. When asked: “What that 
was in the keg the ladies rolled out of his drug store 
on the 16th of Februaryhe said: “It was California 
brandy.” When asked: “If he knew the taste of whis¬ 
key and brandy,” he said: “Yes.” We handed him a 
bottle of this that he said was brandy. He pronounced 
it “a poor quality of sour mash whiskey.” Sister Run¬ 
yan was then put on the stand and said: “It came from 
the keg that was smashed.” 

This man was so humbled that he sold out in a 
month and left Medicine Lodge. There are parties in 
that town who are more responsible than O. L. Day. 
They did everything in their power to have him do 
that which was his ruin. In retaliation for this the 
republican rum element one night made an attack on 
Sister Cain’s and my house, broke windows and threw 
rocks, and broke my buggy. They also sent a negro 
to my house, named Haskel, a noted Bootlegger. He 


8 


114 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


asked for an interview. He had quite a tale to tell me 
about hearing some men say that if the women ap¬ 
peared against Day that my house would go. I am so 
well acquainted with the colored race I could read him 
from the first and knew that these “Rummies” had put 
this negro up to intimidate me. I listened as if I be¬ 
lieved. Then I said: “Haskel you ought to know by 
this time that such men as these will not prevent me 
from doing my duty, besides should my home be burn¬ 
ed, it would be a lecture in favor of my cause that 
would be worth more to me than the home. Now 
Haskel you get in the company of these men and you 
tell them what I have told you.” This negro pretend¬ 
ed to me that he came to me as a friend. When I told 
him what I did, his expression was amusing to see. 


CHAPTER VII. 

SPIRITUAL LEADINGS.-JESUS A CONSCIOUS PRESENCE 

THREE DAYS.-LOSS OF LIBERTY BY COMPROMISING.- 

THE PRICE PAID TO BE REINSTATED.-DISGRACE TO BE 

A MILLIONAIRE. 

I had once while in Medicine Lodge, a heavenly rap¬ 
ture for three days. My Savior was my constant com¬ 
panion. I saw no form, heard no word. But His dear 
face was just behind and looking over my right shoul¬ 
der. He was a conscious presence and the deep peace 
was beyond any experience I ever had. I shunned peo¬ 
ple. I would talk to Him, would sing and play the 
accompaniment on the organ. I was particular about 
my home work. While I saw no face, or form, I real¬ 
ized that His was a sweet, smiling, gratified expres¬ 
sion, and it told me I was pleasing Him. I did not 
seem then to think this anything wonderful, and have 
often reproached myself for not setting more store by 
this at the time. 

There was a period of. from six months to a year 
that I was terribly haunted by the sensation of hang¬ 
ing over a precipice. 1 hung only by a rope above 
my head held by a hand out of a cloud. At night or 
in the day, it was the same uneasy dread of falling. 
The precipice below was black and horrible. There 
were banks on each side. At last I swung over, land¬ 
ing on the right side. Oh ! the relief! 

I asked an old-fashioned sister, whom I knew was a 
saint, to tell me what was wrong in my testimony. “I 


11(5 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


clo not have liberty when I speak.” She said: “You 
do not praise God enough.” I began to pray for a 
spirit of praise. Shortly after this I was at prayer¬ 
meeting, was praying for a spirit of praise. It was 
put in my mouth I rose to my feet and began to say: 
“Praise God ! Praise God!” Repeating it over and 
over. Oh! how sweet to use and hear those words! 
I could scarcely repress the impulse to use them all the 
time. For a long time after this, when the Bible was 
read or testimony struck me as being just right, I 
would audibly say: “Praise God!” This was a ‘‘gift,” 
for I had never felt the impulse before. I have in a 
-measure left this off, but I use it all the time, when I 
hear good news, or see what pleases me. “He led cap¬ 
tivity (sin) captive and gave gifts unto men.” Ever 
since I received the “baptism of the Holy Ghost,” I 
have liked one church about as well as another. I go 
to all even the Catholic. I fast on Friday and use the 
sign of the cross. Fast, because my Savior suffered 
in the flesh on Friday; use the sign of the cross, be¬ 
cause in the cross is salvation. Meditations on the 
cross always lift heavenward. ’Tis the royal way, I 
want to keep it always in view, want it to be the last I 
see. We who bear the cross continually in this tran¬ 
sient life, will wear the crown continually in the eter¬ 
nal. I love a picture of the cross or a crucifix. I am 
debtor both to the Jew and the Greek. I do not feel 
the dislike to the Catholic church that some Protest¬ 
ants do. God’s church is invisible to the world, for it 
is set up in the hearts of the children of men. I have 
been greatly edified by conversing with Catholic 
priests. When I lived in Texas my spiritual condition 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


117 


was such that I wanted some explanation. I went to 
see Father Hennesy, of Houston, I explained to him 
my strange leadings, he said a wise and good thing, 
told me to “read the scriptures and pray and God 
would lead me right.” 

I had a great anxiety at one time that threatened to 
take away my reason, I was almost in despair. I 
prayed God to lift the burden. One night I had a 
dream, I was walking in a woodland and a beautiful 
light was over all and flowers in the shape of words, 
which I did not read, began to fall from heaven. 
When I awoke the horrible gloom was gone; this was 
very marvelous to me. 

I was lying on the floor once, when things seemed 
so dark, and I had great forbodings, and God gave me 
a vision. I saw what seemed to be an earth quake, the 
lightening was flashing, and I saw a bright glow in 
the midst and in that glow were two people one was 
like the Son of Man and the other was myself. 

I was at church in Medicine Lodge one night, during 
a protracted meeting held by Bro. Parker and Hodges. 
Two sisters came to me and complained that I made 
so much noise, that they could not enjoy the service. 
I said: “To please you I will try to keep quiet, but re¬ 
member it is my God and your God I am praising. I 
would rejoice to hear you praise Him.” Next night 
something was said that was good to me. I said: 
‘Praise God!” caught myself when I saw one of the 
sisters near, and from that time I felt little impulse 
and at last none. I went to every meeting but lost my 
liberty and became so bound, I could not testify or 
pray. I was very miserable, would -weep from a deso- 


118 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


lation of spirit. This continued for three weeks. The 
meeting was still going on. My spiritual darkness be¬ 
came so great, I went up one afternoon to the altar. 
I rose and told of how I had "lost my liberty and peace 
by withholding praise to God by trying to please two 
sisters.” While I was confessing, the spirit fell in 
great power and I acted as if I were beside myself. I 
was almost wild with delight. I seemed to fly home 
and back in the evening. One in this state appears 
crazy to the world, even disgusting. No one sees a 
reason for this unnatural overflow of feeling. At the 
beginning of the service, opportunity was given for 
testimony. I rose eager to tell of my returned joy; 
told of praying for, and getting what I prayed for, 
then losing it, by compromise; closed by saying: "That 
never again would I refuse to do the will of God even 
if it offended all and made me appear a fool.” My 
testimony seemed to be fanatical, for my manner indi¬ 
cated one greatly moved. When I took my seat a 
"still small voice” said: "You must sing a song.” Bro. 
Osburn was sitting near. He had the song book “Fin¬ 
est of the Wheat,’ in his hands. I took it then handed 
it back. I felt like one in a dreadful dilemma—all joy 
had given place to fear. Bro. Osburn again handed 
me the book. I felt then I must go through this try¬ 
ing ordeal. I took the book, walked up to the front, 
all were standing, the church crowded and Bro. Parker 
gave out the number of the hymn "40.” "No,” I said, 

"We will sing No. 3.” This song was, "I know Not 
Why This Wondrous Grace To Me He Hath Made 
Known.” Bro. Parker gave out the number again. I 
said, “No,” and began to sing. Bro. Allen accompan- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


119 


ied me with his cornet. Of course one can imagine 
what an impression this would make on an audience. 
I sang two verses and the chorus. I then took my seat. 
Then a flood of peace and heavenly companionship 
took possession of me. I then knew what it was to 
have angels minister unto you. God- took me at my 
word and made me appear a “fool,” and objectionable, 
to the whole people. What a fatal result there might 
have been, if I had not obeyed God! 

T know why people do not have power with God’. 
They will not abandon themselves to the whole will 
of God, because they will not suffer the offence of the 
cross. Why care for the criticism of men that change 
and die! 

I had an experience once for eight months, when I 
felt that Christ had turned his face from me, not in 
displeasure, but this was a trial of faith. My prayers 
had no response, brought me no hope of having been 
heard. But I prayed quite as much, if not more. 
Never got discouraged, although I was in gloom, and 
my heart was like lead. All at once there was a return 
of the conscious presence of God. ’Tis a poor servant 
that serves only for hire. “Though He slay me. yet 
will I trust Him.” (Job. 13:15.) God has kept me 
from following any but Him. 

One dear friend thought that Haney was the great 
holiness teacher, another one thought Caradine. They 
would quote their sayings, but I always found better 
and clearer teaching in the word of God. I could see 
errors in all the holiness teachers, but not one in the 
Bible. The book of Job settled the question of the 
most perfect experience. Men can be perfect men and 


120 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


not perfect saints. When Job was, “holding fast his 
integrity,” (Job 2:3), God did not bless him like He 
did when Job saw the perfection of God and said: 
“Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and 
ashes.” (Job 42:6.) The Sermon on the Mount is the 
greatest lesson in holiness and is from the only one 
that can teach holiness. Great lessons can be taught 
by all persons, taught of God, but ’tis better to drink 
at the fountain than out of a stale bucket. Besides all 
have imperfection. “To the law and to the testimony 
if they speak not according to this word it is because 
there is no light in them.” (Isa. 8 :20.) “They shall all 
be taught of God.” “If any lack wisdom, let them ask 
of God who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, 
and it shall be given.” (Jas. 1:5.) 

From the time that my Christian experience began, 
I never wished to be associated with rich people, or 
rather people that had wealth for display. I would 
feel uncomfortable in a house filled with furniture or 
bric-a-brac. It would be an evidence to me of the 
great waste of money and time by the owner. Noth¬ 
ing had value to me only as it could be used for the 
salvation of men and women, and the glorifying of 
God. It mortified me to see a very well dressed wo¬ 
man. I noticed that those so-called fashionable women 
really never had time or money to do charity. Of 
course there are exceptions. The display of wealth to 
me is an evidence of a depraved nature. The real use 
of wealth, is to relieve the wants of mankind. The 
time is coming when the millionaires will be the de¬ 
spised of the people, for they are learning fast that 
people who amass fortunes, and hoard them, are in 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


121 


that condition because they have ground the face of 
the poor. They are not honest or good. A man or 
woman now that can hoard money or goods and pass 
and repass the suffering every day, has a cold, selfish 
heart, and instead of its being in the future a letter of 
credit to say: “Mr. So and So is a millionaire,” it will 
be a disgrace as it should be, to live for wealth and 
self alone. Still ’tis well to get all the money in a good 
way, that you can and then use it in a good cause. Job 
was a rich man but he was a friend of the “fatherless 
and widow.” He dealt his bread to the hungry. He 
was “feet to the lame and eyes to the blind.” Such rich 
men as Job are blessings, but those men who boast of 
their hoarded treasures, spend their money in the grati¬ 
fication of their lusts, to them God says: “Woe or 
curses unto you rich men! Weep and howl for your 
miseries that shall come upon you ! Your garments 
arc moth eaten, your gold is cankered and the rust 
shall eat your flesh as if it were fire.” Yes, there is a 
class of rich men that would now howl, and weep with 
all their money, if they knew their fate. 

I have never had so light a heart or felt so well 
satisfied as since I smashed those murder mills. For 
years I had an aching, weeping heart. I would often 
put ashes on my head. I felt like wearing sackcloth. 
I can see the hand of God in my life. From a small 
child I loved the world, used to be fond of pets. It 
seemed that my pets always came to grief. Then I was 
very anxious to be thought smart. Would try to write 
and wanted a thorough education. I became almost 
an invalid. Could not attend school. Was hindered 
on account of the circumstances brought about by the 


122 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Civil war. The man I loved and married brought to 
me bitter grief. The child I loved so well became 
afflicted and never seemed to want my love. The man 
I married, hoping to serve God, I found to be opposed 
to all I did, as a Christian. I used to wonder why this 
was. I saw others with their loving children and hus¬ 
bands and I would wish their condition was mine. I 
now see why God saw in me a great lover, and in or¬ 
der to have me use that love for Him, and others, He 
did not let me have those that would have narrowed 
my life down to my own selfish wishes. Oh! the grief 
He has sent me ! Oh ! the fiery trials! Oh ! the shat¬ 
tered hopes! How I love Him for this! “Whom the 
Lord loveth He chasteneth and scourgeth every son 
whom He receiveth.” There are pages in my life that 
have had much to do in bringing me in sympathy with 
the fallen tempted natures. These I cannot write, but 
let no erring, sinful man or woman think that Carry 
Nation would not understand this, for Carry Nation 
is a sinner saved by grace and I know He can save to 
the uttermost, all that come unto Him. “Heaven is 
made for redeemed sinners and hell for the proud and 
disobedient.” When I see the proud glance, the boast¬ 
ful manner, the display of, “I am better than thou,” 
I feel pity and commiseration for the poor dying crea¬ 
ture and see “behind the face a grinning skull.” I 
like the companionship of the servant in the kitchen 
more than the mistress in the parlor. I covet the hum¬ 
blest walk. I wish for the power, often, to make the 
rich take back seats, and give the front to the poor, 
the crippled, the lame and the blind. I will not have 
a piece of fine furniture. I would feel like a reprobate 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


123 


to fill my room with exquisite furniture, using money 
I could feed the hungry with, clothe the naked, doing 
things that would please my Lord. What a change! 
I used to delight in cut-glass, china, plush, velvet and 
lace. Now I can say vanity, all is vanity!” There 
may be almost selfishness in this eager desire I have 
to give away the means that are at my disposal. What 
I use or leave behind will never be placed to my credit 
in the bank of heaven. What we give away for the 
love of God and our neighbor is all we take with us. 
I will be so delighted with a home that I can call mine, 
forever. I like nice wearing apparel but I will not be 
deceived by spending my time and means for that 
which will hinder me from having them where moth 
and rust doth not corrupt and where thieves do not 
break through and steal. So I wish to make to my¬ 
self friends of the mammon of unrighteousness and 
not enemies, for the hoarded dollars are bitter foes that 
will be witnesses against these rich men at That Day. 

From the beginning of my Christian experience I 
have devoted myself to the poor. I prayed God to 
give me opportunity to be helpful to those who were 
destitute of the comforts of life. The people of Med¬ 
icine Lodge were so good to aid me. I could go to the 
stores and ask for flour, sugar and different kinds of 
eatables and get them. There was one man I 'never 
asked in vain, when I wished aid for the poor, that was 
C. Q. Chandler, a man who was able to help. I have 
taken poor children to his house and he has given me 
orders at the dry goods stores to clothe them, so they 
could attend school. He has given me money fre¬ 
quently to get fuel and clothes for those who needed 


124 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


them. One Christmas he wrote me a letter, asking me 
for the names of all the poor ones and asking me to 
name something they needed. I did, and all got some¬ 
thing useful. Such men are worthy to be stewards of 
God’s treasury. 

For years I made it my duty, every fall, to go from 
house to house to gather clothes for the poor families, 
wash women and others who had not time to sew for 
their children. I never allowed a child to stay out of 
day or Sunday school, for want of clothes. I would 
sort out these clothes and distribute them as needed. 
Persons would say, “I am afraid I would make peo¬ 
ple angry.” I said if any one feels that way I will 
say: “You are not the one I am sent to.” I never hurt 
anyone’s feelings by offering them these things. 

There was a family by the name of French who came 
into a neighborhood about three miles from town. I 
heard they were destitute. I filled my buggy and went 
there and found they were sadly in need. I brought 
the things in just such as was needed. The family was 
large. The woman cried as if her heart would break, 
she could not thank me enough. It takes so little to 
make some people happy. 

1 read of a miserable miser once who was on the 
verge of suicide by the side of a river. A little girl 
came to him saying: “Please sir, my mother is sick and 
hungry. Please give me something so I can get her 
something to eat.” The man said within himself: “I 
will do this for the child before I die.” He went to 
a bakershop and got her a full basket. Then she look¬ 
ed so weak he carried it home to her mother. The 
poor woman on the pallet of straw, kissed his hands 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


125 


and blessed him. He thought of the money he might 
use to make people happy. He concluded he would 
use it before he died for he had enjoyed for the first 
time in his life the peace that comes from giving. 
After this his life was a blessing to himself and others. 
He had found the best use of life. 

I once read a beautiful story of one of the early 
fathers of the church. He gave away everything even 
to sufficient clothes to keep himself warm. A rich kind 
hearted woman made him a coat of fur very expensive. 
Next time she saw him he did not have it. “Where 
is that coat father?” she asked. He replied: “I thought 
so much of it I laid it up in heaven. Where moth and 
rust doth not corrupt and where thieves do not break 
through and steal.” (Matt. G:19.) He had given it 
to the first shivering man he met. 


CHAPTER. VIII. 


THE DIVINE CALL.-THE JOINT DRUGGIST OF MEDICINE 

LODGE.-BEER A POISON.—DOCTORS MAKE DRUNK¬ 
ARDS.-SMASHING AT KIOWA.-ATTITUDE OF SOME 

W. C. T. U/S OF KANSAS.-SUIT FOR SLANDER.- 

SMASHING AT WICHITA.-CONSPIRACY OF THE REPUB¬ 
LICANS TO PUT ME IN THE INSANE ASYLUM.-SUF¬ 
FERING IN JAIL AT WICHITA.-SLANDERS FROM THE 

RUM-SOAKED PAPERS OF KANSAS. 

At the time these dives were open, contrary to the 
statutes of our state, the officers were really in league 
with this lawless element. I was heavily burdened and 
could see “the wicked walking on every side, and the 
vilest men exalted.” (Ps. 12:8.) I was ridiculed, was 
called “meddler,” “crazy,” was pointed to as a fanatic. 
I spent much time in tears, prayer and fasting. I would 
fast days at a time. One day I was so sad; I opened 
the Bible with a prayer for light, and saw these words: 
“Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of 
the Lord is risen upon thee.” (Isa. 60:1.) These 
words gave me unbounded delight. 

I ran to a sister and said: “There is to be a change 
in my life.” 

As Jail Evangelist for the W. C. T. U. in Medicine 
Lodge, I would ask the men in prison, young and old, 
why are you here? The answer was, it was “drink,” 
“drink.” I said, why do you get drunk in Kansas 
where we have no saloons? They told me that they 
got their drink in Kiowa. This town was in Barber 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


127 


county, a county right on the border of Oklahoma. I 
went to Mr. Sam Griffen, the County Attorney, time 
after time, telling him of these men being in jail from 
drink. He would put the matter off and seem very 
much annoyed because I asked him to do what he 
swore he would do, for he was oath bound to get out 
a warrant and put this in the hands of the sheriff who 
was oath bound to arrest these dive-keepers, and put 
them in jail and the place or dive was to be publicly 
abated or destroyed. Mr. Griffen was determined that 
these dive-keepers should not be arrested. I even went 
down to Kiowa .myself and went into these places and 
came back asking this County Attorney to take my 
evidence and he would not do it. Then I wrote to Mr. 
A. A. Godard of Topeka, the State’s Attorney, whose 
duty it was to see that all the County Attorneys did 
their duties. I saw he did not intend to do anything, 
then I went to William Stanley the Governor at To¬ 
peka. I told him of the prisoners in jail in our county 
from the sale of liquor in the dives of Kiowa, told him 
of the broken families and trouble of all kinds in the 
county, told him of two murders that had been com¬ 
mitted in the county, one alone costing the tax payers 
$8,000.00, told him of the broken hearted women and 
the worse than fatherless children as the result. I 
found out that he would not do his duty. I had gone 
from the lowest to the chief-executive of the state, and 
after appealing to the governor in vain I found that 
I could go to no other authority on earth. 

Now I saw that Kansas was in the power of the bit¬ 
ter foe to the constitution, and that they had accomp¬ 
lished what the whiskey men and their tools, the Re- 


128 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


publican party and politicians had schemed and work¬ 
ed for. When two thirds of the voters of Kansas said 
at the ballot box—about 1880, I think it was—“We 
will not have a saloon in our state.” This was made 
constitutional by the two-thirds majority. Nothing 
could change this or take it out of the constitution ex¬ 
cept by having the amendment resubmitted and two- 
thirds of the people voting to bring the saloons back. 
They intended then with their bribes and otherwise 
to buy votes. The first act was to organize the state 
into what they called the “Mystic Order of Brother¬ 
hood.” Of course this was kept very quiet and few 
of the people in the towns knew of this order and or¬ 
ganization. When the Devil wants to carry out his 
deepest plots he must do, through a secret order, what 
he cannot otherwise do. He does his work through, 
by, and in, the kingdom of darkness. For this one 
reason he must hoodwink the people to make them his 
tools. 

God has given me a mean fight, a dirty and danger¬ 
ous fight; for it is a war on the hidden things of 
darkness. I am, in this book throwing all the light 
I can on the dangerous foe to liberty, free speech and 
Christianity, the Masonic Lodge, which is the father 
of all the other secret orders. Through this Mystic 
Order of Brotherhood managing the primaries and 
elections, they got into office from constable up to the 
governor, the tools of the liquor power. The great 
question that was then discussed was “re-submission.” 
Every representative to congress at Topeka was 
in favor of the re-submission without an excep¬ 
tion. Money was sent into Kansas by the thousands 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


129 


from brewers and distillers to be used by politicians 
for the purpose of bringing about re-submission. Kan¬ 
sas was the storm center. If the liquor men could 
bring back saloons into Kansas then a great blow 
would be struck against prohibition in all the states. 
This would discourage the people all over. Their great 
word was, “you can’t,” “prohibition will not prohibit.” 
I do not belong to the “can’t” family. When I was 
born my father wrote my name Carry A. Moore, then 
later it was Nation, which is more still. C. A. N. are 
the initials of my name, then C. (see) A. Nation! And 
all together Carry A. Nation ! This is no accident but 
Providence. This does not mean that I will carry a 
nation, but that the roused heart and conscience will, 
as I am the roused heart and conscience of the people. 
There are just two crowds, God’s crowd and the 
Devil’s crowd. One gains the battle by can, and the 
other loses it by can’t. 

My Christian experience will give you the secret of 
my life, it is God indwelling. When I found I could 
effect nothing through the officials, I was sad, indeed. 
I saw that Kansas homes, hearts and souls were to be 
sacrificed. I had lost all the hopes of my young life 
through drink, I saw the terrible butchery that would 
follow. I felt that I had rather die than to see the 
saloons come back into Kansas. I felt desperate. I 
took this to God daily, feeling that he only could res¬ 
cue. On the 5th of June, 1899 before retiring, I threw 
myself face downward at the foot of my bed at my 
home in Medicine Lodge. I poured out my grief and 
agony to God, in about this strain: “Oh Lord you see 
the treason in Kansas, they are going to break the 


130 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


mothers’ hearts, they are going to send the boys to 
drunkards’ graves and a drunkard’s hell. I have ex¬ 
hausted all my means, Oh Lord, you have plenty of 
ways. You have used the base things and the weak 
things, use me to save Kansas. I have but one life to 
give you, If I had a thousand, I would give them all, 
please show me something to do.” The next morn¬ 
ing I was awakened by a voice which seemed to be 
speaking in my heart, these words, “Go to Kiowa,” 
and my hands were lifted and thrown down and the 
words, “I’ll stand by you.” The words, “Go to 
Kiowa,” were spoken in a murmuring, musical tone, 
low and soft, but, “I’ll stand by you,” was very clear, 
positive and emphatic. I was impressed with a great 
inspiration, the interpretation was very plain, it was 
this: “Take something in your hands, and throw at 
these places in Kiowa and smash them.” I was very 
much relieved and overjoyed and was determined to 
be, “obedient to the heavenly vision.” Acts 26:19.) I 
told no one what I heard or what I intended to do. 

I was a busy home keeper, did all my house work, 
was superintendent of two Sunday schools, one in 
the country, was jail evangelist, and president of the 
W. C. T. U. and kept open house for all of God’s peo¬ 
ple, where all the Christian workers were welcome to 
abide at my house. 

When no one was looking I would walk out in the 
yard and pick up brick bats and rocks, would hide 
them under my kitchen apron, would take them in my 
room, would wrap them up in newspapers one by one. 
I did this until I got quite a pile. A very sneaking 
degenerate druggist in Medicine Lodge named South- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


131 


worth, had for years been selling intoxicating liquors 
on the sly. I had gotten in his drug store four bottles 
of Schlitz Malt. I was going to use them as evidence 
to convict this wiley dive keeper. 

One of the bottles I took to a W. C. T. U. meeting 
and in the presence of the ladies I opened it and drank 
the contents. Then I had two of them to take me 
down to a Doctor’s office. I fell limp on the sofa and 
said: “Doctor, what is the matter with me?” 

He looked at my eyes, felt my heart and pulse, shook 
his head and looked grave. 

I said: “Am I poisoned?” “Yes, said the Doctor.” 

I said: “What poisoned me is that beer you recom¬ 
mended Bro.-to take as a tonic.” I resorted 

to this stratagem, to show the effect that beer has upon 
the system. This Doctor was a kind man and meant 
well, but it must have been ignorance that made him 
say beer could ever be used as a medicine. 

There was another, Dr. Kocile, in Medicine Lodge 
who used to sell all the whiskey he could. He made 
a drunkard of a very prominent woman of the town, 
who took the Keeley cure. She told the W. C. T. U. 
of the villainy of this doctor and she could not have 
hated anyone more. Oh ! the drunkards the doctors 
are making! No physician, who is worthy of the name 
will prescribe it as a medicine, for there is not one 
medical quality in alcohol. It kills the living and pre¬ 
serves the dead. Never preserves anything but death. 
It is made by a rotting process and it rots the brain, 
body and soul; it paralyzes the vascular circulation and 
increases the action of the heart. This is friction and 



132 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


friction in any machinery is dangerous, and the cure 
is not hastened but delayed. 

Any physician that will prescribe whiskey or alcohol 
as a medicine is either a fool or a knave. A fool be¬ 
cause he does not understand his business, for even 
saying that alcohol does arouse the action of the heart, 
there are medicines that will do that and will not pro¬ 
duce the fatal results of alcoholism, which is the worst 
of all diseases. He is a knave because his practice is 
a matter of getting a case, and a fee at the same time, 
like a machine agent who breaks the machine to get 
the job of mending it. Alcohol destroys the normal 
condition of all the functions of the body. The stom¬ 
ach is thrown out of fix, and the patient goes to the 
doctor for a stomach pill, the heart, liver, kidneys, and 
in fact, the whole body is in a deranged condition, and 
the doctor has a perpetual patient. I sincerely believe 
this to be the reason why many physicians prescribe it. 

At half past three that day I was ready to start, 
hitched up the buggy myself, drove out of the stable, 
rode down a hill and over a bridge that was just out¬ 
side the limits of Medicine Lodge. I saw in the mid¬ 
dle of the road perhaps a dozen or so creatures in the 
forms of men leaning towards the buggy as if against 
a rope which prevented them from coming nearer. 
Their faces were those of demons and the gestures of 
their hands as if they would tear me up. I did not 
know what to do, but I lifted my hands, and my eyes 
to God, saying: “Oh! Lord, help me, help me.” When 
I looked down these diabolical creatures were not in 
front of the buggy, but they were off to the right flee¬ 
ing as if they were terrified. I did not know or think 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


133 


what this meant. My life was so full of strange, pe¬ 
culiar things at that time that I could not understand 
the meaning. Not for years did I interpret the mean¬ 
ing of this vision. I know now what those creatures 
were. They were real devils that knew more of what 
I was going to do than I did. The devil is a prophet, 
he reads scripture, he knew Jesus when He was here, 
and he knew that I came to fulfill prophecy, and that 
this was a death blow to his kingdom. 

The peoples’ consciences were asleep while these 
dreadful burglars of saloons were robbing the homes 
and God had to shock them to rouse them up. God 
cannot work with a people whose conscience is dead. 
The devil cannot continue with an awakened con¬ 
science. I expected to stay all night with a dear friend, 
Sister Springer, who lived about half way to Kiowa. 
When I arrived near her home the sun was almost 
down, but I was very eager to go to Kiowa and I said : 
“Oh, Lord, if it is Thy will for me to go to Kiowa to¬ 
night, have Price, (my horse,) pass this open gate,” 
which I knew he would never do unless God ordered 
it. I gave him the reins and when I got opposite the 
open gate my horse jumped forward as if someone had 
struck him a blow. I got to Kiowa at half past eight, 
stayed all night. Next morning I had my horse hitch¬ 
ed and drove to the first dive kept by a Mr. Dobson, 
whose brother was then sheriff of the county. I stack¬ 
ed up these smashers on my left arm, all I could hold. 
They looked like packages wrapped in paper. I stood 
before the counter and said: “Mr. Dobson, I told you 
last spring to close this place, you did not do it, now 
I have come down with another remonstrance, get out 


134 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


of the way, I do not want to strike you, but I am going 
to break this place up.” I threw as hard, and as fast 
as I could, smashing mirrors and bottles and glasses 
and it was astonishing how quickly this was done. 
These men seemed terrified, threw up their hands and 
backed up in the corner. My strength was that of a 
giant. I felt invincible. God was certainly standing 
by me. 

I will tell you of a very strange thing. As the stones 
were flying against this ‘‘wonderful and horrible” 
thing, I saw Mr. McKinley, the President, sitting in 
an old fashion arm chair and as the stones would strike 
I saw them hit the chair and the chair fell to pieces, 
and I saw Mr. McKinley fall over. I did not under¬ 
stand this until very recently, now I know that the 
smashing in Kansas was intended to strike the head of 
this nation the hardest blow, for every saloon I smash¬ 
ed in Kansas had a license from the head of this gov¬ 
ernment which made the head of the government more 
responsible than the dive-keeper. I broke up three of 
these dives that day, broke the windows on the out¬ 
side to prove that the man who rents his house is a 
partner also with the man who sells. The party who 
licenses and the paper that advertises, all have a hand 
in this and are particeps criminis. I smashed five sa¬ 
loons with rocks, before 1 ever took a hatchet. 

In the last place, kept by Lewis, there was quite a 
young man behind the bar. I said to him: “Young 
man, come from behind that bar, your mother did not 
raise you for such a place.” I threw a brick at the 
mirror, which was a very heavy one, and it did not 
break, but the brick fell and broke everything in its 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


135 


wav. I began to look around for something that would 
break it. I was standing by a billiard table on which 
there was one ball. I said: “Thank God,” and picked 
it up, threw it, and it made a hole in the mirror. 

By this time, the streets were crowded with people; 
most of them seemed to look puzzled. There was one 
bov about fifteen years old who seemed perfectly wild 
with joy, and he jumped, skipped and yelled with de¬ 
light. I have since thought of that as being a signifi¬ 
cant sign. For to smash saloons will save the boy. 

I stood in the middle of the street and spoke in this 
way: “I have destroyed three of your places of busi¬ 
ness, and if I have broken a statute of Kansas, put me 
in jail; if I am not a law-breaker your mayor and coun- 
cilmen are. You must arrest one of us, for if I am not 
a criminal, they are.” 

One of the councilmen, who was a butcher, said: 
“Don’t you think we can attend to our business.” 

“Yes,” I said, “You can, but you won’t. As Jail 
Evangelist of Medicine Lodge, I know you have manu¬ 
factured many criminals and this county is burdened 
down with taxes to prosecute the results of these dives. 
Two murders have been committed in the last five 
years in this county, one in a dive I have just destroy¬ 
ed. You are a butcher of hogs and cattle, but they 
are butchering men, women and children, positively 
contrary to the laws of God and man, and the mayor 
and councilmen are more to blame than the jointist, 
and now if I have done wrong in any particular arrest 
m£.” When I was through with my speech I got into 
my buggy and said: “I’ll go home.” 


136 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


The marshal held my horse and said: “Not yet; the 
mayor wishes to see you.” 

I drove up to where he was, and the man who owned 
one of the dive buildings I had smashed was standing 
by Dr. Korn, the mayor, and said: “I want you to pay 
for the front windows you broke of my building.” 

I said: “No, you are a partner of the dive-keeper and 
the statutes hold your building responsible. The man 
that rents the building for any business is no better 
than the man who carries on the business, and you are 
party to the crime.” They ran back and forward to 
the city attorney several times. At last they came and 
told me I could go. As I drove through the streets 
the reins fell out of my hands and I, standing up in 
my buggy; lifted my hands twice, saying: (“Peace on 
earth, good will to men.”) This action I know was 
done through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 
“Peace on earth, good will to men,” being the result 
of the destruction of saloons and the motive for de¬ 
stroying them. 

When I reached Medicine Lodge the town was in 
quite an excitement, the news having been telegraphed 
ahead. I drove through the streets and told the peo¬ 
ple I would be at the postoffie corner to tell them of 
my work in the jail here, and the young men’s lives 
that had been ruined, and the broken hearted mothers, 
the taxation that had been brought on the county, and 
other wrongs of the dives of Kiowa; of how I had 
been to the sheriff, Mr. Gano, and the prosecuting at¬ 
torney, Mr. Griffin ; how I had written to the state’s 
attorney general, Mr. Goddard, and I saw there was 
a conspiracy with the party in power to violate their 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


137 


oaths, and refuse to enforce the constitution of Kan¬ 
sas, and I did only what they swore they would do. 
I had a letter from a Mr. Long, of Kiowa, saying that 
Mr. Griffin, the prosecuting attorney, was taking 
bribes, and that he and the sheriff were drinking and 
gambling in the dives at Kiowa. 

This smashing aroused the people of the county to 
this outrage and these dive-keepers were arrested, al¬ 
though. we did not ask the prosecuting attorney to get 
out a warrant, or sheriff to make an arrest. Neither 
did we take the case before any justice of the peace in 
Kiowa or Medicine Lodge, for they belong to the re¬ 
publican party and would prevent the prosecution. 
The cases were taken out in the country several miles 
from Kiowa before Moses E. Wright, a Free Meth¬ 
odist and a justice of the peace of Moore township. 

The men were found guilty, and for the first time 
in the history of Barber county, all dives were closed. 
Of course it took two or three months to accomplish 
this and not a word was said about suing me for slan¬ 
der, until after the dives were closed. Then I began 
to hear that Sam Griffin was going to sue me for slan¬ 
der, because I said he took bribes. The papers were 
served on me, but I was not at all alarmed, for I 
thought it would give me an opportunity to bring out 
the facts of the case. I knew little about the tricks of 
lawyers, and the unfair ruling of judges. 

I will here speak of the attitude of some of the W. C. 
T. U. concerning the smashing. Most of this grand 
body of women endorsed me from the first. A few 
weeks after the Kiowa raid, I held a convention in 
Medicine Lodge. I got letters from various W. C. T. 


138 THE USE AND NEED OF 

U. workers of the state, that they would hold my con¬ 
vention for me. I said: “No, I will hold my own con¬ 
vention.” 

Up to this time, no one had ever offered to hold my 
convention, and I fully understood, that the W. C. T. 
U. did not want it to go out that they endorsed me in 
my work at Kiowa. The state president came to my 
home the first day of the convention. I believe this 
was done, thinking I would ask her to preside at the 
meeting, or convention. I was glad to see her and 
asked her to conduct a parliamentary drill. She came 
to me privately and asked me to state to the conven¬ 
tion that the W. C. T. U. knew nothing about the 
smashing at Kiowa and was not responsible for this 
act of mine. I did so, saying the “honor of smashing 
the saloons at Kiowa would have to be ascribed to me 
alone, as the W. C. T. U. did not wish any of it. So 
far as Sister Hutchinson, who is, and has been the 
president for some time, is concerned, I believe her to 
be a conscientious woman, and whose heart is in the 
right place. She and I have been the best of friends 
and love each other, and she has often defended me 
and spoken well of my work. But I think the W. C. 
T. U. would be much more effective under her manage¬ 
ment, if she had understood that Stanley, the republi¬ 
can governor, wished to handicap her in her prohibi¬ 
tion work when he appointed her husband as physician 
in the reformatory at Hutchinson, Kansas. Be it said 
to the credit of this Christian physician he never used 
alcohol in his practice. And perhaps other bearings 
have prevented her from seeing that the republican 
pressure has injured our work more than anything else 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


139 


in Kansas. Many of the wives of these political wire¬ 
pullers are prominent in the Union. A. W. C. T. U. 
must of necessity be a prohibitionist, for her pledge is 
a prohibition pledge, not a temperance one. 

The Free Methodists although few in number, and 
considered a church of but small influence, have been 
a great power in reform. They were the abolitionists 
of negro slavery to a man, and now they are the aboli¬ 
tionists of the liquor curse. They were also my friends 
in this smashing. Father Wright and Bro. Atwood 
were at the convention I speak of. Father Wright, 
who has been an old soldier for the defence of Truth 
for many years said to me: “Never mind, Sister Na¬ 
tion, when they see the way the cat jumps, you will 
have plenty of friends.” The ministers were also my 
friends and approved of the smashing. Bro. McClain, 
of the Christian church, was at the convention, and he 
was trying to apologize for the smashing and defend 
me at the same time, he said: “We all make mistakes 
and crooked paths, and Sister Nation we all know, 
tries to do right, and even if she did some crooked 
things, all the rest of us do the same thing.” 

I appreciated his motive, but for the sake of others, 
I replied: “I could not see that the term ‘crooked’ 
should be used. I rolled up the rocks as straight as I 
could, I placed them straight in the box, hitched up my 
horse straight, drove straight to Kiowa, walked 
straight in the saloon, threw straight, and broke them 
up in the straightest manner, drove home straight, and 
T did not make a crooked step in smashing.” This of 
course was pleasantry, but it was the way I took to 


140 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


justify myself, as but few seemed to see the merit or 
result of this crusade. 

I never explained to the people that God told me to 
do this for some months, for I tried to shield myself 
from the almost universal opinion that I was partially 
insane. 

I will now speak of my persecution for so-called 
slandering the prosecuting attorney. As I said, no 
one mentioned such a thing until the dives were closed. 
Closing the joints, called attention to the perjury of 
the county officials, for it was proven to be their fault, 
that we have dives in Kansas. In order to direct the 
attention from themselves, as perjurers, and to me, and 
to be avenged, they put their heads together to bring 
this suit against me. Mr. Griffin was no more to blame 
in this matter than the rest of the republicans. A. L. 
Noble, Polly Tincher, Ed. Sample and Mr. Herr, the 
city attorney of Kiowa, were all employed by Sam 
Griffin. This practically took all the legal ability, leav¬ 
ing one, G. A. Martin, whom I retained. I had wit¬ 
nesses enough to prove gambling and drinking in these 
dives by Mr. Griffin and the sheriff; had sufficient 
testimony to justify me in saying what I did. The 
republican judge of Kingman, Gillette, ruled out my 
testimony right through. If my case had been con¬ 
ducted properly by my lawyer, and proper exceptions 
taken, I could have taken the case to the supreme 
court, and had it reversed on several rulings. Judge 
Stevens and Judge Lacey, who were at the trial, told 
me they never saw such determination on the part of 
any judge to cut out the defense as the rulings of 
Judge Gillette. It was evident that everything was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


141 


cut and dried before going into court. Judge Gillette 
had several pages of instructions to the jury, telling 
them their duty was to convict and that the damages 
should be a large sum. I had these instructions ex¬ 
amined by a good lawyer, Mr. Duminel, of Topeka, 
and he said the judge overleaped his prerogative. He 
should have told the jury the facts and the statute gov¬ 
erning slander, but his instructions were an appeal and 
command to convict me. This Judge Gillette has a 
reputation for being a respectable citizen, but his zeal 
to save from disgrace his republican colleagues led 
him to thus persecute a loyal woman Home Defender 
of Kansas, and protect the rum defenders, and republi¬ 
can schemers, who have done more to injure prohibi¬ 
tion in Kansas than any other party. If a democrat 
wanted to carry on a dive, republicans would grant 
him the permit to do so. 

The jury brought in a verdict of guilty; but the 
damages to the character of this republican county at¬ 
torney was one dollar, and of course I sent him the 
dollar, but the cost which was, including all, about two 
hundred dollars was assessed to me and a judgment 
put on a piece of property, which I paid off, by the sale 
of my little hatchets, and lectures. Strange these trials 
never caused me to become discouraged, rather the 
reverse. I knew I was right, and God in his own time 
would come to my help. The more injustice I suffer¬ 
ed, the more cause I had to resent the wrongs. I al¬ 
ways felt that I was keeping others out of trouble, 
when I was in. I had resolved that at the first op¬ 
portunity I would go to Wichita and break up some 
of the bold outlawed murder-mills there. I thought 


142 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


perhaps it was God’s will to make me a sacrifice as he 
did John Brown, and I knew this was a defiance of the 
national intrigue of both republican and democratic 
parties, when I destroyed this malicious property, 
which afforded them a means of enslaving the people, 
taxing them to gather a revenue they could squander, 
and giving them political jobs, thus creating a force to 
manage the interest and take care of the results of a 
business where the advantage was in the graft it gave 
to them and the brewers and distillers. 

In two weeks from the close of this trial, on the 27th 
of December, 1900, I went to Wichita, almost seven 
months after the raid in Kiowa. Mr. Nation went to 
see his brother, Mr. Seth Nation, in eastern Kansas, 
and I was free to leave home. Monday was the 26th, 
the day I started. The Sunday before, the 25th, I 
went to the Baptist Sunday school, then to the Presby¬ 
terian for preaching, and at the close walked over to 
the Methodist church for class meeting. I could not 
keep from weeping, but I controlled myself the best 
I could. I did not know but that it would be the last 
time I would ever see my dear friends again, and could 
not tell them why. I gave my testimony at the class 
meeting; spoke particularly to members of the choir 
about their extravagant dress; told them that a poor 
sinner coming there for relief would be driven away, 
to see such a vanity fair in front. I begged them to 
dress neither in gold, silver or costly array, and spoke 
of the sin of wearing the corpses of dead birds and 
plumage of birds, and closed by saying: “These may 
be my dying words.” At the close Sister Shell, a W. 
C. T. U. said to me: “What do you mean by ‘my dying 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


143 


words?’ for you never looked better in your life.” I 
said: “You will know later.” 

I took a valise with me, and in that valise I put a 
rod of iron, perhaps a foot long, and as large around 
as my thumb. I also took a cane with me. I found 
out by smashing in Kiowa that I could use a rock but 
once : , so I took the cane with me. I got down to Wich¬ 
ita about seven o’clock in the evening, that day, and 
went to the hotel near the Santa Fe depot and left my 
valise. I went up town to select the place I would 
begin at first. I went into about fourteen places, where 
men were drinking at bars, the same as they do in 
licensed places. The police standing with the others. 
This outrage of law and decency was in violation of 
the oaths taken by every city officer, including mayor 
and councilmen, and they were as much bound to de¬ 
stroy these joints as they would be to arrest a mur¬ 
derer, or break up a den of thieves, but many of these 
so-called officers encouraged the violation of the law 
and patronized these places. I have often explained 
that this was the scheme of politicians and brewers to 
make prohibition a failure, by encouraging in every 
way the violation of the constitution. I felt the out¬ 
rage deeply, and would gladly have given my life to 
redress the wrongs of the people. As Esther said: 
“How can I see the desolation of my people? If I 
perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16.) As Patrick Henry 
said: “Give me liberty or give me death.” 

I finally came to the “Carey Hotel,” next to which 
was called the Carey Annex or Bar. The first thing 
that struck me was the life-size picture of a naked wo¬ 
man, opposite the mirror. This was an oil painting 


144 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


with a glass over it, and was a very fine painting hired 
from the artist who painted it, to be put in that place 
for a vile purpose. I called to the bartender; told him 
he was insulting his own mother by having her form 
stripped naked and hung up in a place where it was not 
even decent for a woman to be in when she had her 
clothes on. I told him he was a law-breaker and. ibat 
he should be behind prison bars, instead of saloon bars. 
He said nothing to me but walked to the back of his 
saloon. It is very significant that the picture of naked 
women are in saloons. Women are stripped of every¬ 
thing by them. Her husband is torn from her, she is 
robbed of her sons, her home, her food and her virtue, 
and then they strip her clothes off and hang her up 
bare in these dens of robbery and murder. Truly does 
a saloon make a woman bare of all things! The mo¬ 
tive for doing this is to suggest vice, animating the 
animal in man and degrading the respect he should 
have for the sex to whom he owes his being, yes, his 
Savior also! 

I decided to go to the Carey for several reasons. It 
was the most dangerous, being the finest. The low 
doggery will take the low and keep them low, but these 
so-called respectable ones will take the respectable, 
make them low, then kick them out. A poor vagabond 
applied to a bar-tender in one of these hells glittering 
with crvstalized tears and fine fixtures. The man be¬ 
hind. the bar said: “You get out, you disgrace my 
place.” The poof creature, who had been his mother’s 
greatest treasure, shuffled out toward the door. An¬ 
other customer came in, a nice looking young man, 
with a good suit, a white collar, and looking as if he 


9 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


145 


had plenty of money. The smiling bar-tender mixed 
a drink and was handing it to him. The poor vaga¬ 
bond from the door called out. “Five years ago, I 
came into your place, looking just like that young man. 
You have made me what you see me now. Give that 
drink to me and finish your work. Don’t begin on 
him.” 

I went back to the hotel and bound the rod and cane 
together, then wrapped paper around the top of it. I 
slept but little that night, spending most of the night 
in prayer. I wore a large cape. I took the cane and 
walked down the back stairs the next morning, and 
out into the alley, I picked up as many rocks as I could 
carry under my cape. I walked into the Carey bar¬ 
room, and threw two rocks at the picture; then turned 
and smashed the mirror that covered almost the entire 
side of the large room. Some men drinking at the bar 
ran out; the bar-tender was wiping a glass and he 
seemed transfixed to the spot and never moved. I took 
the cane and broke up the sideboard, which had on it 
all kinds of intoxicating drinks. Then I ran out across 
the street to destroy another one. I was arrested at 
8 :30 A. M., my rocks and cane taken from me, and I 
was taken to the police headquarters, where I was 
treated very nicely by the Chief of Police, Mr. Cubbin, 
who seemed to be amused at what I had done. This 
man was not very popular with the administration, and 
was soon put out. I was kept in the office until 6 :30 
P. M. Gov. Stanley was in town at that time, and I 
telephoned to several places for him. I saw that he 
was dodging me, so I called a messenger boy and sent 
a note to Gov. Stanley, telling him that I was unlawful- 


146 THE USE AND NEED OF 

ly restrained of my liberty; that I wished him to call 
and see me, or try to relieve me in some way. The 
messenger told me, when he came back, that he caught 
him at his home, that he read the message over three 
times, then said: “I have nothing to say,” and went in, 
and closed the door. This is the man who taught Sun¬ 
day school in Wichita for twenty years, where they 
were letting these murder shops run in violation of 
the law. Strange that this man should pull wool over 
the eyes of the voters of Kansas. I never did have 
any confidence in him. 

Kansas has learned some dear lessons, and she will 
be wise indeed when she learns that only Prohibition¬ 
ists will enforce prohibition laws. 

At 6 :30 P. M., I was tried and taken to Wichita jail; 
found guilty of malicious mischief, Sam Amidon being 
the prosecuting attorney, and the friend of every joint 
keeper in the city. He called me a “spotter,” when I 
wanted to give evidence against the jointists. 

The legislature was to convene in a few days and it 
was understood that the question of re-submitting the 
Prohibition Amendment would come up. Being a part 
of the constitution, the people had to vote on it, and 
it was frustrating their plans to have such agitation at 
this time, and these republican leaders were determined 
to put a quietus upon me, if possible. The scheme was 
to get me in an insane asylum, and they wished to in¬ 
crease my insanity, as they called my zeal, so as to hav*- 
me out of their way, for I was calling too much atten¬ 
tion to their lawlessness, at this time, when it might 
prove disastrous to their plots. Two sherififs conduct¬ 
ed me to my cell. The sensation of being locked in 


JUST BEFORE I LEFT WICHITA JAIL A PHOTOGRAPHER CAME TO MY CELL AND ASKED TO TAKE MY PICTURE. HERE 
IT IS, IN THE POSITION OF KNEELING, READING MY BIBLE, WHICH WAS MY USUAL ATTITUDE. 



/ 











14S 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


such a place for the first time is not like any other, and 
never occurs the second time. These men watched me 
after the door was locked. I tried to be brave, but the 
tears were running down my face. I took hold of the 
iron bars of my door, and tried to shake them and said: 
“Never mind, you put me in here a cub, but I will go 
out a roaring lion and I will make all hell howl.” I 
wanted to let them know that I was going to grow 
while in there. 

Three days after, on the 30th, there was brought in 
and put next to my cell an old man named Isaiah Coop¬ 
er, a lunatic, who raved, cursed and tore his clothes 
and bedding. There were some cigarette smokers in 
the jail and the fumes came in my cell, for I had noth¬ 
ing but a barred door. I begged that I might not be 
compelled to smell this poison, but, instead of dimin¬ 
ishing, the smoke increased. Two prisoners from an¬ 
other part of the jail were put in cells next to mine. 

What an outrage, to tax the citizens of Sedgwick 
county to build such a jail as that in Wichita. It holds 
one hundred and sixty prisoners. There were thirteen 
there when I was put in. I have been in many jails, 
but in none other did I ever see a rotary, a large iron 
cage, with one door, the little cells the shape of a piece 
of pie. Perhaps there were a dozen in this one. The 
cage rotated within a cylinder. This was for the worst 
criminals, and the cells were only large enough for a 
small cot, a chair and a table about a foot square. 

Mr. Simmons was the sherifi: and he told the prison¬ 
ers to “smoke all they pleased,” that he would keep 
them in material, and he kept his word. Tobacco 
smoke is poison to me and cigarettes are worse. The 


THE LITE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


149 


health board belonged to this republican whiskey ring, 
and was in conspiracy to make me insane, so they put 
a quarantine on the jail for three weeks, and I was a 
lone woman in there, with two cigarette smokers, and 
a maniac, next to my cell. John, the Trusty, smoked 
a horrid strong pipe, and he was next to my cell. 
Strange to say, when that jail had so many apartments, 
and so few in them, that four inmates shauld have 
been put next to me; but there was “a cause.” Mr. 
Dick Dodd was the jailer, and for three weeks he was 
the only one who came in my cell and I was not al¬ 
lowed to see anyone in that time, but Dr. Jordan who 
called once. I cried and begged to be relieved of the 
smoke, for I do not think Mr. Dodd realized how pois¬ 
onous it was to me. I would have to keep my windows 
up in the cold January weather, and the fire would go 
down at night. I had two blankets, no pillow and a 
bed that the criminals had slept on for years perhaps. 
I would shiver with cold, and often would lay on the 
cement floor with my head in my hands to keep out of 
the draught. Oh ! the physical agony! I had a strong 
voice for singing, which I lost, and have never been 
able to sing, much since. Hour after hour I would 
lay on the floor, listening to the ravings of this poor 
old man, who would fall on his iron bed and hard floor, 
cursing and calling out names. One night I thought 
I could not live to see day. I had in my cell sweetest 
of all companions, my Bible. I read and studied it, 
and this particular night I told the Lord he must come 
to my aid. As I often do, I opened my Bible at ran¬ 
dom and read the first place I opened to, the 144th 
Psalm. I have often read the book through, but this 


150 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


chapter seemed entirely new. It reads, Verse 1: 
“Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my 
hands to war and my fingers to fight. 2. My God and 
my fortress my high tower and my deliverer; my shield 
and He in whom I trust; who subdueth my people un¬ 
der me.” 

God told me in this chapter that He led me to “fight 
with my fingers and war with my handsthat He 
would be my refuge and deliverer ; that He would use 
me to bring the people to Him. 

David had just such enemies as these when he says 
in this chapter: 6. “Cast forth thy lightnings and scat¬ 
ter them; shoot out thine arrows and destroy them.” 

7. “Send thine hand from above; rid me and deliver 
me out of great waters from the hand of strange chil¬ 
dren.” 

8. “Whose mouth speaketh vanity; and their right 
hand is a right hand of falsehood.” 

. 12. “That our sons may be plants grown up in their 
youth; that our daughters may be as corner-stones pol¬ 
ished after the similitude of a palace.” 

Here is the motive: The drink murders our sons, 
and do not allow them to grow to be healthy, brave, 
strong men. The greatest enemy of woman and her 
offspring and her virtue is the licensed hell-holes or 
saloons. 

13. “That our garners may be full affording all man¬ 
ner of store.” 

Our grain is used to poison; our bread-stuff is 
turned to the venom of asps and the bread winner is 
burdened with disease of drunkeness, where health 
should be the result, of raising that which, when rotted 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


151 


and made into alcohol, perpetrates ruin and death ; our 
garners or grain houses are spoiled or robbed. 

14. “That there be no breaking in or going out; that 
there be no complaining in our street.” 

What is it causing the breaking into jails, prisons, 
asylums, penitentiaries, alms-houses? The going out 
of the homes, of hearts; going out into the cold; going 
into drunkards’ graves and a drunkards’ hell? 

“Complaining in our streets.” Oh! the cold and 
hungry little children! Oh! the weeping wives and 
mothers ! Oh ! the misery and desolation of the drunk¬ 
ards ! All from this drink of sorrow and death. 

15. “Happy is that people that is in such a case; yea, 
happy is that people whose God is the Lord.” 

“People whose God is the Lord,” will not allow this 
evil. They will smash it out in one way or another. 
This blessed word was a “lamp to my feet and light 
to my pathway.” ‘Ps. 119.) I rejoiced for the comfort 
it gave me; for the Lord truly talked to my soul while 
I read and reread this. I must say that “Little Dodds,” 
the turnkey as I called him, was often kind to me, but 
he was completely the servant of Simmons and his 
wife. 

John, the Dutch trusty, said to me one day: “There 
is something in the wind; people are coming and going 
and talking to Dodds.” Mr. Dodds was supposed to 
be quarantined in the jail, but he went in and out of 
the office and he would also go to his home; the pris¬ 
oners saw him from the window time and time again. 

One night the poor old man fell so hard on the floor, 
or bed that he lay as one dead, for some time. The 
jailer and others were aroused and before they dare 


152 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


have a physician come in, they had to scrub and clean 
the cell. Then Dr. Jordan came, and the old man was 
finally brought to life. This doctor was in the con¬ 
spiracy to have me adjudged insane. A woman fifty- 
five years old, who never broke a statute of Kansas. 

Mr. Dodds told me that Sam Amidon, county at¬ 
torney, would have a cab at the back door of the jail 
and would take me out. I consented. John, the 
Trusty, said to me, “Don’t you leave this jail, there is 
some plotting going on, and they mean mischief.” I 
asked him to get me a wire to fasten my door, which 
he did, and I wound it around the open places in the 
door and to the iron beam it shut on, and then John 
brought me the leg of a cot. I watched all night, 
listening for some one to come in my cell to drag me 
out. With the cot leg I was going to strike their hands 
if they attempted to open the door. I know what it is 
to expect murder in my cell. God said: “He would 
stand by me, and who but He, has.” 

I got so many letters from poor, distracted mothers, 
who wrote so often: “For God’s sake come here.” In 
some letters there was money. One letter from a Unit¬ 
ed Brethren church in Winfield, Kansas; the minister. 
Brother Hendershot, wrote me that he took up a col¬ 
lection in their church for me of $7.38. How I cried 
over that letter and kissed it! I knew that I had some 
friends who understood me; and just after this letter, 
one from a Catholic priest came, which was a great 
comfort. The many letters I got from all kinds of 
vicious people was a great encouragement to me. I 
must say: “All hell got hit, when I smashed the sa¬ 
loons.” For I never, until then, knew that people 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


153 


thought, or could write such vile things; letter after 
letter, of the most horrible infidelity, cursing God, call¬ 
ing me every vile name, and threatening me. 

I was not allowed a pillow; I begged for one, for I 
had La Grippe, and my head was very sore, my body 
was filled with excruciating pains. Mr. Dodd fre¬ 
quently brought me the papers, and nearly every time 
the Wichita Eagle would have some falsehoods con¬ 
cerning me, always giving out that I “was crazy,” 
“was in a padded cell,” “only a matter of time when 
I would be in the insane asylum;” that I used “obscene 
language” and “was raving.” The Bible says: “All 
liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with 
fire.” (Rev. 21:8) ; so the Murdocks of Wichita ought 
to tremble. I associate the name “Murdock” with 
murder. The real depravity of such people was shown, 
when a lone old woman with a love of humanity, was 
in a cell suffering so unjustly, that these people should 
have left nothing undone to prejudice the people 
against her. Even when my brother died, this Mur¬ 
dock paper spoke of me “raving in jail,” and I was not 
privileged to go to him in his dying hours. Such peo¬ 
ple drove the nails in the hands and the spear in the 
side of Jesus. 

This Wichita Eagle is the* rum-bought sheet that has 
made Wichita one of the most lawless places in Kan¬ 
sas. 

When first arrested in Wichita, in violation of the 
Constitution, I was denied bail and compelled to bring 
a habeas corpus proceeding in the supreme court to 
get a trial or bail. Sam Amidon, as attorney for Sim¬ 
mons proposed a return of the writ, and filed a false 


154 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


certificate from Dr. Shults, president of the board of 
health, stating that the board had quarantined the jail. 
Rather than face the supreme court with a false return, 
the case was dismissed. I do not believe that history 
ever recorded a quarantine of a jail before, for public 
buildings, such as postoffices, court houses or jails can¬ 
not be made pest houses, and such buildings are 
cleansed. There was not a meeting of the health 
board. This was a conspiracy, signed by Dr. Shults 
and the sheriff, for the purpose of keeping me in jail, 
preventing me from seeing my friends or lawyers, and 
by persecution to get me in an insane asylum. Below 
is a copy of this fraudulent notice: 

ORIGINAL NOTICE TO O. D. KIRK, JUDGE, HARDEN EBEY, 
CLERK, CHAS. W. SIMMONS, SHERIFF. 

Served Tuesday, January 15, 1901. 

To O. D. Kirk, Judge; Harden Ebey, Clerk; and 
Charles W. Simmons, Sheriff: 

You, and each of you, are hereby notified that the 
following is a copy of a paper purporting to be a state¬ 
ment made by J. W. Shults, President of the Board of 
Health, of Wichita, Kansas, and attached to the re¬ 
turn of Charles W. Simmons in the matter of the ap¬ 
plication of Carrie Nation for a Writ of Habeas Cor¬ 
pus now pending in the Supreme Court of the State 
of Kansas, viz: 

“Wichita, Kansas, December 29, 1900. 

“At special meeting of the Board of Health, held in 
the City of Wichita, Kansas, on the 29th day of De- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY -A. NATION. 


155 


cember, 1900, at the office of Dr. J. W. Shults, presi¬ 
dent of the board of Health, the following resolution 
was adopted and ordered spread upon the minutes kept 
by the said board. ‘Whereas it has come to the knowl¬ 
edge of the board of health that the inhabitants of the 
jail of Sedgwick county, Kansas, have been exposed to 
small pox and that one Isaiah Cooper confined therein 
has been exposed to smallpox and is infected with said 
disease and that the said Isaiah Cooper is a violently 
insane man and it is impossible to move him from said 
jail and that all of the said jail have been exposed to 
the same and that one W. A. Jordan, who as county 
physician of Sedgwick county and city physician of 
the city of Wichita, Kansas, asked and desired and de¬ 
manded that said jail be quarantined or that said Isaiah 
Cooper be removed therefrom and that said jail be 
fumigated, and whereas it is impossible to remove the 
said Isaiah Cooper therefrom, the action of said W. 
A. Jordan in recommending the quarantine of the said 
county jail and in quarantining the same is hereby ap¬ 
proved and the said county jail is hereby declared quar¬ 
antined and ordered quarantined for the space of 
twenty-one days from this date and all persons in 
charge of said jail and the health officer of said city 
are hereby directed to enforce this said quarantine and 
the order of the said W. A. Jordan. 

J. W. Shults, M. D., 
President of Board of Health.” 

and that the above statement is not true; that there 
was no meeting of the Board of Health on the 29th 
day of December, 1900, and that the said jail has never 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


156 


been quarantined by the said Board of Health on the 
said 29th day of December or at any other time. 

Dated at Wichita, Kansas, January 14, 1901. 

W. S ' Allen, • 

Ray & Keith, 

Robt. Brown, 

Attorneys for Carrie Nation, an 
inmate of said jail. 

Served on O. B. Kirk, 9 :20 a. m., Tuesday, January 
15, 1901; 

Harden Ebey, 9:20 a. m., Tuesday, January 15, 
1901; 

Chas. W. Simmons, 9 :35 a. m., Tuesday, January 
15, 1901. 

I could tell of many interesting incidents in jail. 
There were five singers, one a graduate of the Conser¬ 
vatory of Music in Boston, and Mr. Dodd was a fine 
singer himself; he would often sing with the prison¬ 
ers, and it was a great pleasure to me. One song he 
would have the boys sing was: “My Old Kentucky 
Home.” We had a genuine poet there, and 1 here give 
you a poem he sent up to me one day, by the trusty: 

Solemn Thoughts. 

’Twas an aged and Christian martyr, 

Sat alone in a prison cell, 

Where the law of state had brought her, 

For wrecking an earthly hell. 

Day by day, and night she dwelt there, 

Singing songs of Christ’s dear love; 

At His cross she pray’d and knelt there, 

As an angel from above. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


157 


In the cells and ’round about her, 

Prisoners stood, deep stained in sin; 
Listening to the prayers she’d offer, 

Looking for her Christ within. 

Some who’d never known a mother, 

Ne’er had learned to kneel and pray, 

Raised their hands, their face to cover, 

Till her words had died away. 

In the silent midnight hours, 

Came a voice in heavenly strain, 

Floating o’er in peaceful showers, 

Bringing sunshine after rain. 

Each one rose from out his slumber, 
Listening to her songs of cheer, 

Then the stillness rent asunder, 

With their praises loud and clear. 

Praise from those whose crimes had led them, 
O’er a dark and stormy sea, 

Where its waves had lashed and tossed them 
into “hell’s” captivity. 

Wine it was, the drink that led them, 

From the tender Shepherd’s fold, 

Now they hear His voice that calls them, 
With His precious words of gold. 

Like the sheep that went astray, 

Twice we’ve heard the story told, 

They heard His voice, they saw the way, 
That leads into His pastured fold. 


158 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


The first time I was put in jail, after everything was 
quiet, I heard some prisoner down below, swearing, 
and I called out: “What do you mean boys by asking 
God to damn this place? I think he has done so and 
we don’t want any more damns here. Get down on 
your knees and ask God to bless you.” And all the 
rest of the time I never heard an oath. In a week or 
so I heard them singing hymns; and I called to them: 
“How are you boys ?” 

“We have all been converted since the first of Jan¬ 
uary,” was their reply. 

One of those young men got out while I was there, 
and came to my cell and told me that it was true about 
their conversion. 

Oh ! the sad hearts behind the bars! Oh ! the injus¬ 
tice ! I am glad I have been a prisoner for one thing, 
I never see a face behind the bars that my heart does 
not pity. I have heard so many tales of ruined lives; 
have seen men with muscles and brain, bowed into 
tears. Oh! if we would only love each other more; 
if we would feel as Paul: “To owe love” to all we 
meet, and pay the debt. ’Tis the most pleasant debt to 
pay and the indebtedness blesses both parties, especial¬ 
ly the one who pays. I used to think that birth and 
other circumstances made one person better than an¬ 
other. I do not see it that way now. The man with 
many opportunities is not entitled to as much con¬ 
sideration as one with fewer. I am the defender of 
the one who needs help most. The great need of the 
world is Love. 


CHAPTER IX. 


OUT OF JAIL FIRST TIME.-EGGS AND STONES.-SMASH¬ 
ING STILLING'S JOINT AT ENTERPRISE, KANSAS.- 

WHIPPED BY HIRED PROSTITUTES.-PLOT AT HOLT, 

KANSAS BY HOTEL KEEPER AND JOINTIST TO POISON 

AND SLUG ME.-MY HAND BROKEN AND HANDCUFFS 

USED.-FAINT FROM HUNGER.-HOW I CAME TO USE 

HATCHETS AS SOUVENIRS. 

I got out of Wichita jail about the last week in Jan¬ 
uary, 1901, under a writ of habeas corpus. I got bail, 
a Mr. Jones of Wichita went my bail, God bless him. 
I left on the evening train. 

While in jail I got a letter asking me to come to En¬ 
terprise, Dickinson county, and break up saloons there. 
I said the name Enterprise, is good and I will go; so 
I left jail with the intention of going there. It was 
dark when I started for the train. Many of the Salva¬ 
tion Army were near me. The streets were almost 
impassable, and the whole city seemed to be on the 
streets marching down to the station, in expectation 
of something. 

Many said: “Are you not afraid?” “Perfect love 
casteth out all fear." (I John 4:18.) I love the people 
I do not fear them. 

There walked by my side, a man keeping the crowd 
back. “Are you one of the Salvation Army?” I said 
to him. He said: “No, I am only a tin horn gambler.” 

I asked him: “Why do you seem to be such a friend 
of mine.” 


1G0 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


He answered: “Because I intend that no one shall 
hurt you, for you are a good woman, and I will see 
you safe.” He carried my valise and put me on the 
train. 

There were several hundred people at the depot and 
the crowding was dangerous. I wanted to see the 
crowd, so I raised the window, waved my hand and as 
the train pulled out, the eggs began to come; the win¬ 
dow fell down and I did not get a spatter. God said: 
“I’ll stand by you.” explains this. In two minutes a 
rock the size of my fist came crashing in at the win¬ 
dow ; shivered the glass, and the rock fell down at my 
side; which was a miracle. Not once did I feel alarm¬ 
ed but smiled; while all the passengers were on their 
feet with fright. 


AT ENTERPRISE. 

I stayed all night with a Mrs. Hoffman and next 
morning, I went down to a dive kept by a man named 
Stillings. He had closed to go to a baseball game. 
The door -was locked, so I broke the front glass and 
climbed in. Several women were on the outside, and 
were friendly to smashing. I broke the place up. 
There were twelve cases of beer and I destroyed them 
and piled them up in the center of the room on the 
floor. At the close, the marshal came in, took me out 
and .would not let me break up the other dive near by. 
Neither did he arrest me. 

I came down on the corner of the street that night, 
to tell the people why I did this, when Stillings passed, 
cursing and shaking his fist at me, saying: “My wife 
will settle you.” Just then a furious woman came 


10 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


161 


around the - corner, rushed up to me and struck me a 
fearful blow in the eye, then ran to her husband, Still¬ 
ings, and in a frantic manner said: “I have done what 
you asked me, now let us go home.” I stopped speak¬ 
ing long enough to go into a meat shop and have a 
piece of fresh meat bound on my eye, which was al¬ 
ready very dark and painful. Then I finished my ad¬ 
dress, and we organized a society to smash saloons, if 
they did not close. Next morning we went down the 
street in a body, Mrs. Hoffman and other women, and 
the other dive keeper talked to us and promised to go 
out of business. This Stillings came to me again curs¬ 
ing and threatening, saying: “His wife would fix me.” 
Although this man was disturbing the peace, disorder¬ 
ly and dangerous, no one offered to arrest him. He 
held me, while four women ran from some place with 
whips and sticks. One beat me with her fist, another 
with a whip, one with a raw-hide, while one pulled my 
hair and kicked me into the gutter, nearly killing me. 

I said: “Women, will you let me be murdered.” For 
although there were men and women present, not one 
did a thing, until at last, an old lady, the mother of the 
saloon-keeper’s wife, picked up a brick and said: “If 
anyone strikes that woman again I will hit them with 
this.” Then all rushed to defend me. 

I was almost breathless. My hair was down, much 
of it being pulled out. I went home with my friend, 
Mrs. Hoffman. These women who attacked me were 
arrested. The trial brought out the fact that this dive- 
keeper, Stillings, had hired these women. To the 
gambler’s wife he was to give twenty-five dollars, to 
use the raw-hide. Two women were prostitutes, whom 


1C>2 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


this Stillings had brought to town for this purpose. 
They were fined a small sum, and the whole of them 
given a few hours to leave town. 

My body was bruised and sore. My limbs were 
striped with bruises; but I was only disabled two days. 

While in Enterprise I got a telegram from Holt, 
signed by the “Temperance Committee,” it read: 
“Come here and help us break up dives.” This little 
town was only twelve miles from Enterprise. In go¬ 
ing to the train that night there seemed to have been 
some one hiding on every corner throwing eggs. My 
dress was covered with them. I got to Holt at mid¬ 
night. When I got off the train, I began to fear it was 
a plot to injure me for no one was there to meet me, 
and I saw some suspicious men keeping in the dark. 
I got into a hack and went to a hotel. Tasked for the 
house-keeper, but everyone had retired. I went up to 
my room, which was very small. It had one window 
which was raised an inch with a lath under it, and I 
thought it strange at the time that the landlord should 
have let the window down, but I was very tired and 
dropped asleep almost as soon as I touched the bed. 
About two o’clock I was awakened with a smothered 
feeling, struggling for breath. I jumped for the win¬ 
dow, which I threw up, for the room was full of the 
most poisonous odor, as of cigarettes, and other 
smells. I knew that there were persons at the door 
puffing the poison in. I sat at the window and listened 
and in about fifteen minutes I heard some one whistT 
ing and saw through the transom that a light was com¬ 
ing. A man stopped at my door and knocked. 

“What do you want?” 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


163 


“I want to speak to you,” he replied. 

“What is it?” 

“I want to speak to you.” 

God showed me in a vision two men crouched on 
each side of the door ready to either catch or slug me, 
if the door was opened. 

“I see you sluggers on each side of the door. You 
villain, you have tried to murder me by throwing 
poison in my room and now you are trying something 
else.” 

“There is a mob here after you.” 

“You are a liar,” I answered. 

“There is a committee wants to speak to you.” 

“You are telling lies in order to have me open my 
door.” 

He left and went down below, and for ten minutes 
there was a great tramping of feet and I could hear 
the landlord pretending to disperse a crowd. I watch¬ 
ed from my window and saw two men walking away 
I certainly was thankful for a lock on my door. Next 
morning when ready to leave my room, I looked up 
and down the passages well; then I hurried and did 
not feel safe, until I got on the outside. I asked a 
little boy if there were any Christians in Holt. 

“No, but there are some in the country." 

I got my breakfast at a restaurant, and I called out 
on the streets that I would hold a meeting in front of 
the hotel where I had stopped. There was a crowd, 
and I then told of the telegram and of how I was 
treated. I pointed to the landlord, who was the pic¬ 
ture of a villain, and a coward. The two dive-keepers 


164 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


of Holt were at this meeting. They asked me if I in¬ 
tended to smash the saloons there. 

“Of course, I didn’t come to Holt to do anything 
else.” 

One man told me that he would shoot me if I came 
into his place. “I am not afraid of your gun. Maybe 
it would be a good thing for a saloon-keeper to kill 
Carry Nation. It might be the means of causing the 
people to smash the dives.” 

The one that talked to me was white with fear and 
anger, but at last the color came back to his face, and 
soon he was in good humor; he told me he never ex¬ 
pected to open that saloon again. In less than ten 
days from that time, the people of the county became 
so aroused, that the prosecuting attorney closed every 
saloon in the county, which were twelve in number. 

From Holt I went to Topeka. I stopped with the 
United Brethren minister there, and spoke in his 
church. The saloons were all over Topeka. I went 
down town after dark, to see the condition of things. 
It was soon learned that I was on the streets, and a 
crowd gathered. I went to some dives and joints. 1 
could not get in. One had his mistress stationed at 
the door with a broomstick. She gave me four blows 
before I could get away, poor creature. I met her 
niece after that, who told how the saloon-keeper cast 
her oft* and that she died a miserable death. 

While I was there the State Temperance Union had 
a meeting in the First Presbyterian church. Capt. 
Cook, from Chetopa, got up in the meeting and said: 
“Here is ten dollars towards giving a medal to the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


165 


bravest woman in Kansas, Carry Nation.” One hun¬ 
dred and twenty dollars was raised. 

[ said: “I would prefer that the money be used to 
pay my lawyers, rather than be put into a medal as 
I did not wear gold in any way.” 

But the medal was purchased. On it is, “To the 
bravest woman in Kansas.” 

We held a good many meetings. I spoke in several 
churches and held meetings in Dr. Eva Harding’s 
office, where we prepared to take measures, to break 
up saloons in Topeka, where sworn officials were per¬ 
juring themselves from governor down to constable. 
About this time a certain woman pretended to be a 
friend of mine, but was a spy and a traitor. I believe 
she was hired by the jointists to find out our plans. 
She told me she knew where every saloon in the city 
was and would show them to me. It was understood 
by a few of us that we would make a raid one morning 
in February, 1901, and I called on this woman to show 
us where the places were. We wandered around from 
street to street, and I soon discovered that she was 
keeping me away from them. One young boy said: 
“I’ll show you a place.” 

I came to one dive. I lifted my hatchet to smash the 
door and this woman grabbed at my hatchet and so 
did the man. He slammed the door and left his hat in 
my hand. I passed on down to the “Senate” saloon 
and went in. This was about daylight. The bar-ten¬ 
der ran towards me with a yell, wrenched my hatchet 
out of mv hand and shot off his pistol toward the ceil¬ 
ing; he then ran out of the back door, and I got an¬ 
other hatchet from a woman companion. I ran behind 


160 THE USE AND NEED OF 

the bar, smashed the mirror and all the bottles under 
it; picked up the cash register, threw it down; then 
broke the faucets of the refrigerator, opened the door 
and cut the rubber tubes that conducted the beer. It 
began to fly all over the house. I threw over the slot 
machine,, breaking it up and got from it a sharp piece of 
iron with which I opened the bungs of the beer kegs, 
and opened the faucets of the barrels, and then the beer 
flew in every direction and I was completely saturated. 
A policeman came in and very good-naturedly arrested 
me. For this I was fined $100 and put in jail. Mr. 
Cook was sheriff and I was treated very nicely by him 
and Mrs. Cook. Mrs. Cook’s mother was visiting 
them at this time, a woman thoroughly in sympathy 
with my work, and I believe that the influence of this 
good woman was the cause of my being treated so 
well, for after she left things were very different. 

That republican conspiracy in Topeka determined 
to»put me in the insane asylum. One of them, Judge 
Magaw, swore on the witness stand that he believed 
me insane. His examination brought out the fact that 
I compelled him to turn some obscene pictures to the 
wall once, when I called to see him in his office. 

I had received ever so many letters from all over the 
country justif)flng smashing as being reasonable, right 
and legal. I also saw that the republican newspapers 
of Kansas, and other states, were determined to put 
me in a false light before the people. I conceived the 
idea of publishing a paper. I tried to get the Journal to 
edit the paper, but I could not get anyone to take hold 
of it. Some one suggested to me Nick Chiles, a negro, 
who had a printing outfit. I knew but little of this 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 167 

man. I sent for him to come and see me at my cell. 
All the money I had in the world was from the sale 
of ten cows which was $.240. This negro, Chiles talked 
very fair and promised to print my paper in a credit¬ 
able way. I gave him the $240. I wrote the editorials 
while in the jail, and also gave him bundles of letters 
which I had received and a great many poems that had 
been written on Carry Nation and smashing. This 
negro finally cheated me out of my money and papers, 
also. I closed with him after three weeks, he put the 
papers out, collected for them and never paid me a 
cent. 

My paper was called The Smasher's Mail. I 
called it this for it was largely composed of letters 
which I had received on the subject of smashing. I 
had no one to read the proofs and was at the mercy 
of this negro, who was not in smypathy with my cause. 
I was often humiliated at the way my articles were 
tortured. I afterwards got The Kansas Farmer to 
publish the paper and I then bought a press of my 
own, but found that I could not conduct a paper and 
lecture, so after the 13th edition, I closed. The paper 
accomplished this much, that the public could see by 
my editorials that I was not insane. 

PROPHECIES THAT I CAME TO FULFILL. 

No age ever accepted the messenger that God sent 
out for that age. When people ask me who gave me 
this authority or by what authority I do these things, I 
say, “It is written.” God has said a great deal con¬ 
cerning the liquor traffic. Jeremiah says, “Oh, that 
my head were waters, and my eyes fountains of tears 


1GS 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


that I might weep day and night for the slain of the 
daughter of my people.” He saw the dead and dying 
all over the land, in alleys, in streets, in prison-houses, 
in homes and the mourning wives and sisters and 
daughters. Daniel called it “the abomination of deso¬ 
lation.” “Standing where it ought not to stand and 
standing in the Holy place.” If you go into a saloon 
and ask a man why he makes that firey drink; that is 
made by rotting good grain and good fruit, and any¬ 
thing that is rotten is poisonous, and it will rot the 
man’s brain and will rot his body, will rUt his soul, will 
rot the shirt off his back, will rot the shoes off his feet, 
and make a rotten mess of everything. That man be¬ 
hind the bar, in defending himself will tell you to 
“quarrel with the government,” he has his license. 
You ask him where he got his license from, he will 
tell you from the Internal Revenue Office. Where is 
that situated? In Washington City. Who controls 
that ? The party in power. Who licenses every saloon 
in the United States, Alaska and the Philippines ? The 
Republican party. Who runs the saloons of the Unit¬ 
ed States ? The Republican party. Who runs the Re¬ 
publican party? The Republican voters. Which is 
the more dangerous, the saloon keeper or the Republi¬ 
can voter? You will have to acknowledge that it is 
the voter. Therefore the saloon exists by the author¬ 
ity and privilege of the party in power. The Demo¬ 
cratic party does not run the saloons because it hasn’t 
the opportunity. If two thieves come to town and one 
gets an opportunity to steal and the other one doesn’t, 
we would not arrest the party that does not get the 
opportunity, but the party caught with the goods. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


169 


And “standing in the Holy place/’ the minister will 
leave his pulpit, the saloon keeper will leave his bar; 
they both go to the ballot box and put in a vote and 
you cannot tell one from the other. The liquor traffic 
stands in the church, “in the Holy place.” In the 28th 
chapter of Isaiah, the saloon is spoken of, and also the 
destruction of it is prophesied. God starts off by say¬ 
ing, “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of 
Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, 
which are on the head of the fat valleys, of them that 
are overcome with wine.” Woe! means curse, and the 
interpretation of that verse is curses on the head of 
the government that will make drunkards, their glor¬ 
ious beauty being the revenue from the liquor men, the 
fat valleys being the capital. Sodom and Gomorrah 
were fat valleys. Now the second verse is a prophecy 
of my mission. “Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and 
strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroy¬ 
ing storm; as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, 
shall cast down to the earth with the hand.” The Lord 
had one, this one was to be mighty and strong. I have 
felt this might and this strength when I would go in 
the saloons, when I would pick up the , cases of beer 
and dash them down, and throw over the slot ma¬ 
chines and smash them with my hatchet, and get a lit¬ 
tle sharp instrument and knock out the bungs. Also, 
“the tempest of hail,” (smasher,) the smashing sounds 
like a hail storm. This is to be a “destroying storm,” 
the smashing and destruction of saloons makes it like 
“a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters over¬ 
flowing.” 

“Shall cast down to the earth with a hand,” I chal- 


170 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


lenge any interpretation of this scripture other than 
that of smashing saloons. “The crown of pride,” the 
drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot.” 
The Bible goes on to tell that God will be honored in 
this smashing, that He is going to sit at the head, and 
strengthen them that “turn the battle to the gate.” (vs. 
5.) He speaks of the prophets and priests erring 
through drink, says “all tables are full of vomit and 
filthiness.” (vs. 8.) This refers to the filthy tobacco 
that so many ministers are addicted to, which makes 
them tobacco drunk, makes them filthy. No Christian 
should listen to a minister addicted to tobacco drunk¬ 
enness for he is living in willful violation of several of 
God’s commands. He speaks of the revolution coming 
through the little children educated by these mothers, 
says it must be “line upon line, precept upon precept,” 
(Isa. 28 :10) which is the secret of all agitation. Then 
he says that, “the scornful men that rule these people 
will say, ‘we have made a covenant with death and 
with hell, we are at agreement when the overflowing 
scourge shall pass through it shall not come unto us 
for we have made lies our refuge and unto falsehood 
have we hid ourselves.” (Isa. 28:15.) The license sa¬ 
loon is a covenant with death, being the death of all 
things. The death of respectability, the death of moth¬ 
erhood, the death of love, the death of the soul. And 
with hell it is an agreement, it does not agree with a 
school, a home, or a church. It agrees only with hell. 
The most significant is the “refuge of lies,” An ad¬ 
ministration calling itself a government and murder¬ 
ing a hundred thousand every year is not a govern¬ 
ment, it is a lie. An administration that perpetuates 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


171 


crime at the rate of 75 per cent, is not a government, 
it is a lie. An administration that makes widows and 
orphans all over the country is not a government, it is 
a refuge of lies. God says the hail shall sweep away 
the refuge of lies; the smashing roused the people as 
nothing else has ever done, and God says: “Your cov¬ 
enant with death shall be disannulled, and your agree¬ 
ment with hell shall not stand.” “When the overflow¬ 
ing scourge (the Prohibition ballot), shall pass 
through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From 
the time that it goeth forth it shall take you; for morn¬ 
ing bv morning shall it pass over, by day and by night; 
and it shall be a vexation only to understand the re¬ 
port.” (Isa. 28:18-19.) This means the morning and 
evening papers that carry the news of the smashing 
around the world. It was indeed a vexation to the li¬ 
quor traffic to “understand the report.” They had 
nothing to fear from the old parties, but they were not 
prepared for a furious woman and a hatchet, (vs. 20.) 
“For their bed is shorter than that a man can stretch 
himself on it; and their covering narrower than that 
he can wrap himself up in it.” This shows dissatis¬ 
faction among the people. The bed and covering does 
not protect them, neither does the government. 

When I was in Wichita I was begging some women 
to go with me and Sister Lucy Wilhoite was one of 
them, she asked God for direction in this matter, 
whether I was called of God to do this or not, and 
God pointed her to the 54 chapter of Isaiah. I will 
repeat the last two verses here: “Behold, I have creat¬ 
ed the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that 
bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have 


172 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


created the waster to destroy. No weapons that is 
formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue 
that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt con¬ 
demn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 
and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” 
Here is the hatchet prophesied and here is the protec¬ 
tion to the one that used it, and here is condemnation 
against the one that condemns it. 

THE SECOND TIME IN JAIL AT WICHITA. 

I was in a meeting of the W. C. T. U. in Wichita, 
of which Mrs. Summers was president. I wanted to 
have these women go with me and destroy the places 
there that were murdering their sons. Many present 
were in favor of it, but Mrs. Summers was bitterly op¬ 
posed. I had not up to this time taken a hatchet in 
my work, nor did 1 do so until I reached Sister Evans’ 
house, just before starting in my second raid in Wich¬ 
ita. Three went out in the hall with me, Mrs. Lucy 
Wilhoite, Miss Muntz and Mrs. Julia Evans. The hus¬ 
band of the latter was a great drunkard, otherwise a 
capable physician. Those three women said they 
would go with me. We went to Mrs. Evans’ home 
I took a hatchet and Mrs. Evans carried a piece of 
iron. We marched down to the first place, kept by 
John Burns. We walked in and began to smash right 
and left. With my hatchet I smashed in the large plate 
glass windows and also the door. Sister Evans and I 
then attacked the show case, went behind the bar and 
we smashed everything in sight. The bar-tender came 
running up to me with his hands up, “Don’t come near 


THIS PICTURE TAKEN BY A MAN WHO CALLED FOR THE THE PURPOSE, TO SEE ME IN TOPEKA JAIL. I NEVER 
WANT A PICTURE TAKEN OF MYSELF WITHOUT MY BIBLE, MY CONSTANT AND HEAVENLY COMPANION. 













174 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


my hatchet, it might fall on you and I will not be re¬ 
sponsible for the results.” 

After we were through for no one resisted us, Mr. 
Burns was asked. “Why did you not knock that wo¬ 
man down ?” He replied: “God forbid that I should 
strike a woman.” (“A man’s a man for a’ that.”) 

I heard Sister Wilhoite talking to the crowd and tell¬ 
ing why we had done this. 

We were put in one cell, the one I occupied before 
and were given a cot apiece. This was one of the glor¬ 
ious heavenly and refreshing times. We sang hymns, 
repeated scripture, would often laugh and cry by turns 
for joy to think we were worthy to suffer for His sake. 
“The table was prepared before us in the presence of 
our enemies, our cup runneth over.” This happy con¬ 
dition was not what our persecutors wished, and Mrs. 
Simmons and her husband, whom we called “Jezebel” 
and “Ahab,” were determined to separate us. 

These two were very much interested in having me 
adjudged insane, for Mr. Simmons had in several ways 
laid himself liable to criminal prosecution, especially 
in the matter of the quarantine. Mrs. Simmons came 
to our cell door, and in the presence of Sister Wilhoite, 
to whom she had told that I used “obscene language,” 
I asked her if she said this ? She had to acknowledge 
that she did. I told her she spoke a “lie,” for I had 
never done such a thing. She sent her husband and 
son up to the cell and they dragged me into the rotary 
and put me in one of those little triangular cells, which 
was indeed a place of filth. The faucet leaked, and 
kept a continual spatter, which made my cot wet. I 
stayed there five days and while it was not as bad as 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


175 


Jeremiah’s dungeon, it was similar. The dampness 
and poison of this cell added to the already deep cold 
on my lungs. Dear Bro. Schollenberger! Who has 
not heard of this great hearted man of Wichita? He 
brought us little treats and in many ways relieved us. 
I was not allowed to be with my loving sisters again 
while in prison. They would write notes and send 
them by a “trusty,” for they were very uneasy about 
me, fearing I had met with foul play. 

As soon as the sisters could get bail, they got out, 
but I was not allowed to give bond. I was not a meek 
prisoner, did not act like a criminal. This vexed my 
persecutors and they tried to humble me, but I felt that 
I was right and that God would stand by me and I 
wanted Him to look down and always find me brave 
and true and “in nothing to be terrified by my adver¬ 
saries.” (Phil. 1:28.) 

I had some money sent me while in jail and this I 
divided, often to the last, with my fellow prisoners. 
To one I gave four dollars, for his poor wife was soon 
to be confined. To the “trusty” John, I gave three dol¬ 
lars for his destitute wife, and often bought little 
treats, such as fruits and butter. The meals were meat 
and beans one day, then potatoes and meat all cooked 
up into a mush. I became very much attached to my 
fellow prisoners and I found some with noble senti¬ 
ments. What do people do who have no hope of hea¬ 
ven, I often ask. What a joy to have a place in view 
where there is no sickness, no death, no jails, no suf¬ 
fering of any kind. 

THE THIRD TIME IN TOPEKA JAIL. 

I had become so disgusted with jail food that my 


176 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


stomach refused it. As soon as I was put in jail I told 
Mr. Cook to send the milkman to my cell. He came 
and was very kind. He agreed to bring me some bread 
and milk, ten cents worth a day. This I lived on for 
the eighteen days. In the cell with me was a woman 
named Mrs. Mahanna, who was put in for selling beer. 
She did not happen to have a government license. 
Poor creature! She had been the mother of fifteen 
children; had a broken hip caused by the kick of a 
drunken husband. She was very ignorant but kind- 
hearted. The heat was intense and we were next to 
the roof. Sometimes I would feel as if I was suffocat¬ 
ing. The windows slanted so that but little air came 
in. One pane of glass was partly out and we would 
sit by that to get a breath of air. While in this jail I 
had many offers from different theatrical, circus, and 
museum managers, who tried to tempt me with all 
kinds of offers; one as high as $800 a week, and a 
palace car and a maid. I never for one moment 
thought of taking any of them until two managers 
came from New York City. The sheriff, Mr. Cook, 
brought their cards up. I said: “Tell them to wait 
until morning.” I prayed over the matter nearly all 
night and before day all seemed settled. (This was a 
test to try my faith.) The cloud was lifted and I told 
Mr. Cook to tell the men that a “million a minute 
would not catch me.” My dear friends especially Mrs. 
Goodwin, Dr. Eva Harding and others used their in¬ 
fluence to have Stanley, the governor pardon me, this 
he refused to do, the joint-keepers were those he fav¬ 
ored. 

I had never thought of going before the public as a 


11 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


177 


lecturer. I knew those people only wanted me as they 
would a white elephant. I did not, at this time, see 
the stage as a missionary field. 

At this time I was entirely out of money, I was in 
debt and the dunning letters I got while in jail were 
a terrible trouble to me. The ten cents I paid for my 
bread and milk came in almost daily for copies of my 
papers. I paid my milkman sometimes in stamps. 

I never wanted to get out of jail so badly in my life, 
as I did at this time, when the offers of engagements 
were so many. Two days after the New York man¬ 
agers were there, I got a letter from James E. Fur¬ 
long, a Lyceum Manager of Rochester, N. Y., who 
had managed Patti and many of the great singers. He 
told me if I would give him “some dates,” he would 
assist me in getting out of jail. I hardly knew what 
he meant by “dates.” Mrs. Goodwin of Topeka, called 
to see me, I showed the letter to her and asked what 
this man meant by “dates ?” She said: “He may want 
you to lecture and tell of your experiences.” 

“I wonder if the people would like to hear me,” I 
said. I asked her to tell Mr. Duminel, my lawyer, to 
come to my cell. I told him of it, and he said he would 
call the commissioners together and would have them 
let me out by paying my fines bv monthly installments. 
This he did. In about a week from that I spoke at 
Atlantic City for the Philadelphia American, the pro¬ 
ceeds being used to give the poor children an outing. 
Thousands of people were present. I never made a 
note or wrote a sentence for the platform in my life. 
I have spoken extemporaneously from the first and 
often went on the platform when I could not have told 


178 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


what I was to say, to save my life, and for several 
weeks God compelled me to open my Bible at random 
and speak from what my eyes fell on. I have literally 
proved that: “You shall not think of what you shall 
speak, but it shall be given in that same hour.” The 
best thoughts have come to me after being asleep, wak¬ 
ing in the night or in the morning. 

Mrs. Dr. Harding and Mrs. Goodwin went my bond 
and also collected seventy dollars to help me to pay 
some debts so I could fill the dates. I had to rush mat¬ 
ters in order to get my clothes together and other 
things fixed for this long journey to Clarksburg, Ohio, 
where I was billed to speak at a chautauqua. I did 
not stop for dinner or supper, got to the Union depot 
in time to catch the mid-night train. When I went 
to purchase my ticket I lacked just fifty cents; I had 
never begged, but there I was, train would leave in a 
short time and I would miss my date. The man at 
the fruit stand was locking up his booth and I went to 
him with fear and trembling, asked him to loan me 
fifty cents, which he did. I got my ticket and took 
my train in time, was very faint from work and from 
lack of food. I had lived on five cents worth of bread 
and five cents worth of milk for eighteen days and I 
would not spend anything before I purchased my 
ticket, but I had not a penny to get me even a cracker. 
The next morning I tried to rise from my seat to get 
me a drink but everything would become dark and I 
found I would faint. The fasting and excitement had 
told on my strength. I was wondering what I would 
do when a dear sweet faced woman turned to me and 
said: “Will you have a lunch?” I answered her the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


179 


best I could, I certainly was overcome with gratitude, 
the lunch seemed manna from heaven. Nice beaten 
biscuit sandwiches. I wish 1 knew who she was, and 
I wish she knew who she gave this lunch to. God said 
He would “stand by me,'’’ and here are the proofs. 

I was speaking in the street near the postoffice in 
Topeka, one afternoon and a man ran out from a candy 
store and said: “Carry here are some little hatchets, 
you sell them to this crowd and you can pay your costs 
and fines this month.” The hatchets were little worth¬ 
less, pewter things, but the crowd seemed crazy for 
them. This gave me an idea. Since that time the lit¬ 
tle hatchets have been my faithful little defenders, they 
have paid railroad fares, hotel bills, they aided me in 
paying for the home for drunkards’ wives, besides they 
are my little messengers. They cause the people to 
talk, to think, to act. They carry a message with them, 
it is the heart of the mother crying, “Carry A. Nation 
for my baby, for my loved ones, Carry A. Nation 
against the saloons.” Never was there a greater ad¬ 
vertisement of a great cause. God has blest the mis¬ 
sion of the hatchet. I tell mothers to get these little 
hatchets, put them on their boys and girls clothes. 
With these hatchets goes the facts of my life which 
will be an inspiration to the heart of the young. 

The summer of 1902 I was at Coney Island, speak¬ 
ing in Steeple-Chase Park, and a man was very insult¬ 
ing to me, and always took occasion to say something 
against women. I can scarcely remember how it was, 
but I broke or smashed his show case of cigars and 
cigarettes. I knew I would have to pay for it, but I 
did not mind paying for the object lesson that it would 


180 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


be. for tobacco is a poison, and the use of it is a vice. 
I was arrested, stood my trial and was being sent to 
jail, when Mr. Tilyou, Manager of Steeple-Chase 
Park, took me from the “Black Maria.” The police¬ 
man who had the prisoners in charge was purple and 
bloated from beer drinking, he wanted me to go in a 
place in the front that was already crowded with wo¬ 
men. I refused and he struck me on the hand that was 
holding to the iron bars of the little window and broke 
a bone, causing it to swell up. Psaid: “Never mind, 
you beer-swelled, whiskey-soaked saturn faced man, 
God will strike you.” In six weeks from that time this 
man fell dead on the streets of Coney Island. This 
was the first time I every had handcuffs on. I saw in 
this experience in Police Courts in Coney .Island what 
T never saw before, eight or ten women sentenced for 
drunkenness; one the mother of five children, and the 
others nice looking young women, and most of them 
were weeping. When they received their sentences 
there would be a smothered laugh from the audience of 
bloated men present, and 1 turned and said: “Shame on 
you, for laughing at the sorrows of these poor wo¬ 
men.” I thought how heartless it was for men to laugh 
at the disgrace of women. I got out by paying for the 
destruction of the cigar case. 

I was very successful and made enough money to 
pay $125 a month to have my Smasher's Mail pub¬ 
lished in the form of a magazine, but having no one 
in Topeka that could edit the magazine, and do justice 
to me, I returned and closed up the business. 


CHAPTER X. 

LEGAL STATUS OF PROHIBITION AND JOINT SMASHING. 

The very highest judicial authority, the Supreme 
Court of the Nation, has made a most radical ruling, 
to wit: “No legislature can bargain away the public 
health or the public morals. The people themselves 
cannot do it, much less their servants. Government 
is organized with a view to their preservation and can¬ 
not divest itself of the power to provide for them.”— 
101 U. S. 816. 

No state, therefore, can license or legalize immoral¬ 
ity, vice or crime. All such efforts are treason to so¬ 
ciety and organized government. 

Again, the Supreme Court of the United States has 
declared: “If the public safety or the public morals 
require the discontinuance of any manufacture or traf¬ 
fic, the hand of the legislature cannot be stayed from 
providing for its discontinuance, by any incidental in¬ 
convenience which individuals or corporations mav 
suffer.”—97 U. S. 32. Thus the legislature of any 
state can confiscate property by wholesale if necessary 
for the protection of the community. Powder mills, 
slaughter houses and pest houses, necessary institu¬ 
tions, are frequently so condemned and rendered abso¬ 
lutely worthless. 

There is not a lawful saloon in the world. Law is 
as eternal and unchangeable as God himself, who says 
that, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” (I John 
3:4.) Anything that is sinful cannot be lawful, and 


182 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


anything that is lawful cannot be sinful. The saloon 
is not lawful because it is sinful. Blackstone’s defini¬ 
tion of law is this, “Law is a rule of action prescribed 
by the supreme power of the state, commanding that 
which is right and prohibiting that which is wrong.” 
We should not send men to Congress to make law, law 
is already made, it is that men may find out what law 
is and see that it is enforced. Saloons are unconstitu¬ 
tional. Our forefathers gave us the Constitution of 
the United States which is a guarantee to the people 
to make perfect union, “domestic tranquillity,” “com¬ 
mon good” and “public defence.” A saloon destroys 
every one of these guarantees. It is treason to enforce 
law that prohibits crime and at the same time licenses 
saloons that would prohibit law from prohibiting 
crime. 

There are just two great spiritual leaders of the hu¬ 
man family. Humanity will be the servant of one or 
the other. God made man and is the Creator of all 
things. He says: “I make peace and create evil.” 
(Isa. 45:7.) 

We would never have had any use for law if there 
was no possibility of sinning. We would never have 
had an opportunity to show our loyalty to God if it was 
not possible to be disloyal. There was a tree in the 
midst of the Garden that God forbade Adam to eat 
of, this tree was some kind of lust, the Devil by false¬ 
hood and cunning, made the woman believe that God 
had told her a lie. Made her believe the fruit was 
“good for food,” that it was “pleasant to the eye,” and 
a tree to be “desired to make one wise;” and she and 
Adam broke this first law that God had given to man- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


183 


kind. Whatever this tree was, it changed their pure 
natures into one that was conscious of sin. The very 
effect of this sin upon their natures would lead us to 
infer that their genital organs were involved, for these 
were covered for the first time. In this Paradise the 
Devil was the author of this sin as he had been in hea¬ 
ven and in the war with Michael and the angels he was 
beaten and they were hurled over the battlements. He 
fell upon the earth. We cannot say when this was 
but we find him still the implacable foe of God’s works. 
He accomplished his purpose in causing our parents 
to sin, all sin is the breaking of God’s Word. God is 
the law giver. The enmity between God and man is 
always the result of sin, as in the case of God and 
Adam and Cain and Abel. Anarchy is the reverse of 
law. The seeds are children of law and anarchy be¬ 
gun from these. Their crowds have been increasing 
as the centuries go by. God has His crowd and the 
Devil has his, and every man and woman is in one or 
the other. The question is often asked, “Why did God 
make the Devil,” or “Why does God allow the Devil 
to live,” or “Why is there such a thing as sin ?” There 
was war in heaven once, of course there was sin there. 
God says that nothing that defileth or maketh a lie 
shall ever enter there again, and to prevent any trouble 
of this kind, He must have people prepared. This earth 
is God’s laboratory, the Devil is his fire, we are the 
metal. Job says: “He knoweth the way that I take, 
when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 
23:10.) David said: “Thou hast tried us as silver is 
tried.” (Ps. 12:6.) James says: “Count it all joy 
when you fall into divers temptations (trials.”) Peter 


184 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


says: “The trial of your faith being- much more prec¬ 
ious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried 
with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and 
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’* (1 Peter 1:7.) 
Could the chemical prepare the gold for us and beau¬ 
tify it without the fire. So God is using the Devil to 
purify us for use and beauty and pleasure in heaven. 
Should God allow an impure soul to get into heaven 
there would be sin there, besides were there no Devil 
to tempt us how could we show God that we are 
worthy of heaven. What credit would we have as an 
over-comer if there was nothing to over-come? Life 
is a battle in which we v % dll win or loose. It depends 
upon our fighting sin, which will give us victory over 
sin. 

Politics is a science of government, therefore God 
was the first politician. He governs the human family 
by restraining and prohibiting sin that will enslave 
and kill the soul. The Devil is a politician also, his 
policies are to bring slavery and death. 

Obedience to law is man’s strength, his royalty that 
made him like God. The Devil and his crowd have 
ever been an enemy to law as he was from the begin¬ 
ning. He persuaded the first pair to take license to 
sin, promising them a deceitful revenue, so he does 
now. “He tempts through the lust of the eye, the lust 
of the flesh and the pride of life.” (1 John 2:16.) 

God thundered prohibition from Mt. Sinai, and, 
“thou shalt not” is at the door of every man’s con¬ 
science. Heaven is the result of man’s obedience to 
God. Prohibition law, and hell is the doom of the li¬ 
cense crowd. Our revolutionary fathers were prohibi- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


185 


tionists, and would not submit to the unjust and unlaw¬ 
ful authority of King George. They smashed the tea 
and went to war against tremendous odds, but God was 
with them and they smashed loose from Anarchy. 

In 1862 when the saloon was licensed by the Repub¬ 
lican Congress at Washington, the halls of hell rang, 
with a song of triumph. The conspiracy against pros¬ 
perity and happiness, domestic tranquillity and public 
defence was no longer a guarantee. All these were 
gone, and the reign of death began, until now it is not 
possible to count or measure the ruin, but God lives 
and rules. 

It is not only the privilege of the patriotic citizen to 
abate a dangerous nuisance but it is commendable. 
Bishop on Criminal Law, paragraph 1081, says: “This 
doctrine (of abatement of a public nuisance by an in¬ 
dividual) is an expression of the better instincts of our 
natures, which lead men to watch over and shield one 
another from harm.” 

1 Bishop’s Criminal Law 828; 1 Hilliard on Torts, 
605. 

“At common law it was always the right of a citizen, 
without official authority, to abate a public nuisance, 
and without waiting to have it adjudged such by legal 
tribunal. His right to do so depended upon the fact 
of its being a nuisance. 

In abating it, property may be destroyed, and the 
owner deprived of it without trial,without notice and 
without compensation. Such destruction for public 
safety or health is not a taking of private property for 
public uses without compensation, or due process of 
law, in the sense of the constitution. It is simply the 


186 


THE .USE AND NEED OF 


prevention of its noxious and unlawful use, and de¬ 
pends upon the principle that every man must so use 
his property as not to injure his neighbors, and that 
the safety of the public is the paramount law. These 
principles are legal maxims or axioms essential to the 
existence of regulated society. Written constitutions 
pre-suppose them, are subordinate to them, and can¬ 
not set them aside.” 

Judge Baker sums up the case thus: “The women 
who destroyed such property are not criminals. They 
have the same right to abate such common nuisances 
as men have to defend their persons or domiciles when 
unlawfully assailed. As the women of that state are 
denied the right to vote or hold office, I think they are 
fully justified, morally and legally, in protecting their 
homes, their families, and themselves from the ravages 
of these demons of vice in the summary manner which 
the law permits.” 

By Bible authority and by the common law of our 
land I have proved to the satisfaction of all who will 
see the right, that I am a loyal American, a loving 
Home Defender, doing the will of Him whom I serve 
and whose I am. 


CHAPTER XI. 

MY TRIAL FOR DIVORCE.-THE LICENSED RUM TRAFFIC 

THE CAUSE OF SO MANY DIVORCES.-DIFFERENT TIMES 

AND PLACES I FIAVE BEEN IN JAIL.-AT THE CAPITOL 

OF CALIFORNIA.-WIDE OPEN TREASON.-AT THE UNI¬ 
VERSITY OF TEXAS.-WOOLLEY CLUB AT ANN ARBOR, 

MICHIGAN.-CATHOLIC PRIEST AND CIGARETTES. 

One of the greatest sorrows at this time was rny 
husband getting a divorce from me; we had lived to¬ 
gether twenty-four years. We never agreed on but 
few tilings, but I never thought we would come to a 
separation. He said to me, “You will have to stop and 
come back to Medicine Lodge or I will get a divorce 
from you.” I said: “Mr. Nation, God has given me a 
mission, I dare not turn back. Shall I hearken unto 
God or unto man? Judge ye.” I begged him not to 
bring this reproach on me that it would hinder my 
work, but he was over persuaded by other parties and 
he served the papers on me when I was in jail. The 
good people of Medicine Lodge were shocked by these 
proceedings and came to court and testified of their 
own free will of my duties as a wife. There was not 
a witness to deny it. Mr. Nation got his divorce on 
the ground of desertion. He claimed cruelty and de¬ 
sertion. I said I could never afterwards live with him 
as his wife. I got the home which I sold for eight 
hundred dollars. I said I would not put any of that 
money in fines, but would lay it up in heaven. I made 
the first payment on the home for drunkards’ wives 


188 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


with this check. Since that time I have paid seven- 
thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) on the pur¬ 
chase of that home, and have presented it to the Asso¬ 
ciated Charities in Kansas City, Kansas, to be used 
forever as a home for drunkards’ wives. I desire to 
see this home in the hands of the W. C. T. U. of the 
state of Kansas, believing that no one can make it as 
useful as they can. 

We hear, “A woman’s place is at home.” That is 
true, but what and where is home. Not the walls of 
a house. Not furniture, food or clothes. Home is 
where the heart is, where our loved ones are. If my 
son is in a drinking place, my place is there. If my 
daughter, or the daughter of any one else, my family 
or any other family is in trouble, my place is there. 
That woman would be selfish or cowardly who would 
refuse to leave her home to relieve suffering or trouble. 
Jesus said: “Go out into the highways and hedges.” 
He said this to women, as well as men. If the wo¬ 
men of Galilee had not left their homes they would not 
have followed Jesus. If Phoebe had not left her home, 
she would not have gone on the business of the church 
to Jerusalem. We would have no woman missionaries 
—women now, are forced to go out to save the home. 

D. L. Moody once said, a saying which I hardly un¬ 
derstood at the time: “When a wife knew that the man 
that should be her husband was unfaithful and corrupt, 
she was as bad as he if she continued to live with him.” 
I have thought much of the meaning of the name hus¬ 
band. A husband is a man who provides for and loves 
his family, as much as it is in his power to do, but 
when he refuses and will not do this, he breaks his 


MY HOME IN MEDICINE LODGE, WHERE I HEARD THESE WORDS, “GO TO KIOWA” (AND MY RIGHT HAND WAS 
THROWN DOWN) “AND l’LL STAND BY YOU.’'’ THIS IS THE HOME I SOLD AND MADE THE FIRST 

PAYMENT ON THE HOME FOR DRUNKARDS’ WIVES. 
















190 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


marriage vow and becomes his wife’s enemy. A true 
husband is not an enemy. This will place many wo¬ 
men in the roll of living with men who are not their 
husbands, and this is so. I do not favor divorce, but 
it is better for husband and wife to separate, than to 
continue to bring into the world children born of a 
drunken or licentious father. This would be aiding 
the propagation of sin, and the spreading of disease 
its result. There is nothing which is making so much 
enmity between the sexes as intoxicating drink. This 
is the cause of so many divorces. Men who go into 
saloons generally visit houses of prostitution. The 
women they meet there have been deceived and lost 
their self respect, become discouraged because men 
have made them their victims through treachery, and 
in turn these women revenge themselves by taking all 
means to drag men down. Prostitutes do not like 
men; they often hate them. The man who goes there 
generally loses respect for the virtues of women, and 
from associating with bad women they judge all wo¬ 
men to be vile. These men hate the very women they 
go to see. Married men who drink are bad husbands, 
for they deceive their wives, who soon find it out; and 
the husbands and wives cannot be happy. A woman 
leaves all others for one man and she longs for his so¬ 
ciety. In the evening the clubs and drinking places 
and lodges take up men’s time when their families 
should have it. These things destroy love and con¬ 
fidence between husbands and wives. ’Tis not all men’s 
fault, for there are many drinking women. 

A man came to me just before I went on the stage 
at Newport, Rhode Island, and said: “Carry Nation, 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


191 


step aside here, I must speak to you. I am in so much 
trouble. Give me some advice. My wife is at home 
drunk; she is that way most of the time. We have 
six children and they feel disgraced. What can I do? 
I am almost wild.” 

I asked: “Did you ever drink with your wife ?” 

He looked confused. I said: “Women do not usual¬ 
ly go to saloons but you men bring it home and use 
it on the table and women are just as apt to catch the 
disease of alcoholism as men. This may be the way 
your wife learned to be a drunkard. Wives have been 
nursing their drunken husbands for years; now the 
chickens have come home to roost, and you are nurs¬ 
ing your druken wife.” 

Poor man! I comforted him all I could. He, in¬ 
deed, seemed distracted; and he is not alone, there are 
hundreds of cases. 

I met a lovely creature on the train, who had been 
married a few months. Her husband was a lumber 
merchant in Chicago. She sat by me and told me her 
sad story. She had been a poor girl and dearly loved 
a man whose mother opposed the match and prevent¬ 
ed the marriage. The young lumber merchant, left 
rich by the death of his father, proposed and she mar¬ 
ried him. In a month, the mother of the man she 
loved first, died and the obstacle was removed. In 
telling me this story I smelled liquor on her breath. 
She would say a few sentences and then say: “Oh, 
Carry Nation I am so miserable! If Charlie would 
only be true to me I would not grieve for the man I 
loved, but Charlie drinks and he goes with other wo¬ 
men, and leaves me alone. He gives me all the money 


102 THE USE AND NEED OF 

I want. I have everything that money can buy; but, 
Oh! I almost hate these things! I would rather have 
a hut with some one to love me.” She kept talking this 
way until it was enough to break my heart. She said: 
‘‘Charlie will be in from the smoking car, and please 
Mrs. Nation speak to him. I want to be a good wife 
and I will do all I can to make him a good man. But 
he laughs at me when I talk to him, he never takes me 
in earnest. Go speak to him.” 

So I did. I found him to be a young man about 
twenty-three, with the marks of dissipation on his 
face. I said: “I have something to say to you private¬ 
ly. You have a beautiful young wife. If you wish to 
make her happy you can do so. There is one thing 
that will ruin the happiness of both. That is intoxi¬ 
cating drink. Did you know your wife is under the 
influence of some drug?” He said: “Oh, don’t say a 
word to her about that, I am the cause of it. I drink 
and have persuaded her to, because she has a right to 
do what I do.” 

I told him of the fatal results and asked him to quit 
or it would be the ruin of both. Here were these two 
on the brink of ruin, so young, so attractive. I never 
shall forget the pathos of that woman’s story. The 
yearning of that heart for love. Of course in her un¬ 
happiness she would turn to the benumbing fascina¬ 
tion of the poisonous drug. 

On every hand I see the desolation of homes and 
hearts. There are no five things that make so much 
enmity between the sexes as this one—the licensed sa¬ 
loon. The home life is destroyed. Men and boys are 
taken from home at the very time they ought to be 


12 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


193 


there, after their work is done. Families should gather 
in the evening to enjoy each other’s society. It is said 
that Germans are the crudest husbands on earth. Their 
beer gardens have taken the place of firesides. There 
are more insane and suicides in Germany than any na¬ 
tion on earth. Alcoholism is a disease. Men go to 
the Keeley cure and take different treatments to get 
cured. This disease is killing more every year than 
the deadliest epidemic, and still not one of the senators 
or representatives will discuss this. Roosevelt toured 
this country moralizing on different questions. He 
wished to reproach women for not raising larger fam¬ 
ilies. What protection has a mother if she does ? She 
has to produce the grist to make these murder-mills 
grind, and I for one, say to women, refuse to be moth¬ 
ers, if the government will not close these murder- 
shops that are preying on our hearts, for our darling 
sons are dearer to us than life. 

If I had a family to raise and had to live in a city, 
I know of no place as desirable as Topeka. A wife 
said to her husband, “Let us take our boy and go to 
Topeka.” So they came. The husband was D. L. 
Whitney, manager of the Square Deal Realty Co., of 
Topeka, Kansas, and both he and his wife have been 
a great help to me. I say to fathers and mothers, 
move to Kansas, where your sons are taught that it 
takes a sneak to sell, and a sneak to drink, intoxicating 
liquors in that state. 

I was arrested in Topeka for going into the dives. 
The officials were determined to keep them open, and 
the police arrested me for even going in. They did not 
arrest the keepers. I was thrown out and called names 


194 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


by the proprietors, in the hearing of the police, still 
they were let go. This was during the time that 
Parker was mayor. 

The voting citizens of Kansas will soon find out that 
no one but prohibition officers can be trusted to en¬ 
force prohibition statutes. I am glad at the present 
writing there is said to be not a dive in the beautiful 
city of Topeka, and that she has passed the Rubicon. 
God grant that no more criminal dens be opened by 
Republicans, Democrats or any other Anarchists. 

I was arrested in Wheeling, West Virginia, winter 
of 1902, for going in a saloon and telling the man he 
was in a business that would send him to hell as well 
as his customers. The facts are that the police never 
knew what I was going to do and they w r ere so fright¬ 
ened and rattled that they of course thought they 
would arrest me to prevent trouble. I have been a 
terror to evil doers. I was in jail there two nights. 
No pillow. The bed bugs bad. Col Arnett, my law¬ 
yer, said I had a good case of malicious prosecution. 
I have begun several suits, but the “laws’s delay” and 
the condition of dishonest courts have prevented me. 

I was arrested in Bayonne, N. J., because I was try¬ 
ing to aid a poor drunkard’s wife to get her husband 
to go home with her. A policeman came up and or¬ 
dered me to “walk on.” I said: “I have a right to 
speak to any one on the street.” He said: “I will 
arrest you if you do not move on.” I said: “You do 
not wish this poor man to have one warning word to 
keep him out of a drunkard’s hell.” He arrested me, 
took me to the police headquarters, where I was sen¬ 
tenced for disturbing the peace. I was put in a cell 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


195 


with a hard board, no cover. There were only two 
other prisoners, both put there for getting drunk. 
The partition door was by accident left unlocked and 
I heard someone creeping, looked up and there was 
one of the poor creatures in my cell. I called loudly. 
He ran back. The turnkey came and fastened the 
door. All night through I was handing water to these 
poor creatures. The bed bugs were thick and they 
kept me quite busy knocking them out of my face. I 
lay on the plank but cofild not sleep a wink. Next 
morning I was called in court. That police officer in 
order to make it a case of disturbing the peace said 
there were one hundred and fifty people around. There 
was but five and I so testified. I never have seen such 
false swearing as there is with the police. Got a fine 
of ten dollars. Of course this judge was a republican. 

I have been arrested: In Wichita three times; sen¬ 
tenced December, 1900, thirty days; January 21st, 
1901, twenty-one days and January 22nd two days. 
Topeka, seven times; once thirty days; twice each 
eighteen days; then twelve days; fifteen days, seven 
days and three days; Kansas City once, part of a day; 
Coney Island once, part of a day; Los Angeles once; 
San Francisco once; Scranton twice, one night and 
part of two days ; Bayonne, New Jersey, a day and 
night; Pittsburg three times, one night and part of 
two days; Philadelphia once, one night. In another 
chapter I will give account of other arrests. 

I was also put in jail in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 
and in 1901, when five of us attacked the wholesale 
liquor house of Mahan Bros., in Wichita, of which I 
speak elsewhere. 


196 THE USE AND NEED OF 

I spoke at Sacramento, California to the legislature 
when in session. I got a letter from one of the offi¬ 
cers in the capitol, telling of the joints run in the capi- 
tol building and patronized by the members of the leg¬ 
islature. A reporter went with me. He tried to get 
me an opportunity to speak, but he was told I could 
not do so, and that I had better leave as the crowd 
prevented them doing business. I did not leave. The 
reporter said: “You will not be able to speak/’ I said: 
“I will speak.” I waited until the speaker adjourned 
for noon, and as quick as a flash I took the stand, and 
began my address. I saw impatience in the faces of 
many, but there was a great cheer from visitors and 
pages. I spoke about as follows: “I am glad to speak 
to the law-makers of California. I not only believe 
in making laws, but enforcing them. I called their 
attention to the most need legislation on the lines of 
prohibition of evil. I could see that all seemed rather 
pleased at this point, I drew out the letter which read 
as follows: “Dear Madam: I see you are to visit the 
capitol tomorrow, I wish to call your attention to the 
flagrant violations under the dome of California’s 
capitol. In the Bill Filing room is a place where liquors 
are kept, also in the sergeant-at-arm’s room in the 
senate chamber, behind a screen, is stored beer and 
whiskey, in room 56 there is a safe where bottles of 
beer and whiskey are kept. These unlicensed bars 
are patronized by the members, and with their full 
knowledge and consent. It was certainly a sight to 
see the faces of these men. After reading each charge, 
I would stop and say: “Now gentlemen this must be 
a grave slander, and I want you as a body to rise and 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


197 


down this outrage.” I waited, no one rose up. I 
said: “Certainly there must be a mistake, is it possible 
that the law-makers of this state are the law-breakers? 
if so, then who is capable of punishing the criminals ?” 
I continued, “I hope that at least there are some of 
the members of this body that are ignorant of this and 
that some one if only one will rise and say, ‘I know 
nothing of this;’ ” not one arose. Both the houses 
were adjourned and the aisles and lobbies were pack¬ 
ed. These men looked at each other grinning and 
looking silly, some heartily enjoying it, reminding me 
of a lot of bad boys that were caught stealing water¬ 
melons. The pages and visitors yelled and waved and 
clapped their hands, but was this not a shame? This 
is but a sample of the legislatures of the states. Wash¬ 
ington’s capitol is a reproach to common decency, this 
government, like a dead fish, “stinks worst at the 
head.” 

I spoke in Austin, Texas, at the State University. 
When I arrived in the city I was met by “Uncle Tom” 
Murrah. “Uncle Tom” is a true type of the old fash¬ 
ion gentleman. Had it not been for the chivalry of 
this dear friend I expect I would have had some 
trouble with the police of Austin. 

I went into a saloon and was led out in very forcible 
manner by the proprietor, who was one of the city 
council. I stood in front of this man’s man-trap and 
cried out against this outrageous business. The man 
kept a phonograph going to drown my voice. The 
police would have interfered but “Uncle Tom” told me 
to say what I pleased, and he would stand by me. I 
went up to the State University with students who 


198 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


tried to get a hall for me to speak to them, but they 
could not. I spoke from the steps. In the midst of 
the speech and the cheers from the boys I heard a voice 
at my side. I looked and there stood the Principal, 
Prexley Prather. He was white with excitement, say¬ 
ing: “Madam, we do not allow such.” I said: “I am 
speaking for the good of these boys.” “We do not 
allow speaking on the campus.” I said: “I have 
spoken to the students at Ann Arbor, at Harvard, at 
Yale, and I will speak to the boys of Texas.” The 
boys gave a yell. The mail man was driving up at this 
time. The horse took fright, the letters and papers 
flew in every direction. The man jumped from the 
sulky; the horse ran up against a tree and was stop¬ 
ped. I offered to pay for the broken shafts but the 
mail carrier would take nothing. There was not ser¬ 
ious damage and all had a good laugh, except, per¬ 
haps, the dignified Principal. 

When I visited the students at Ann Arbor, Mich., 
I was given a banquet by the Woolley club of the uni¬ 
versity. It gave me new life to look at such men of 
intellectual and moral force. Oh! for such men to 
be the fathers of the rising generation. Just such 
men as these will save the Nation. These are the 
hatchets that will smash up evil and build up good. 

One cannot help but compare the tobacco smoking 
dull brained sottish students with these giants of 
moral and physical manhood. These young men were 
the greatest argument in favor of prohibition. God 
will bless the Woolley club of Ann Arbor and their 
kind. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


199 


AT HIGH MASS, BUFFALO, OCTOBER 27. 

I attended High Mass in St. Joseph Cathedral. One 
of the priests, Mr. Percell, was taking up the collec¬ 
tion. He came to where I was sitting but the smell of 
cigarette smoke was so strong about him that I could 
not refrain from a rebuke, so I said: “You smell so 
bad from cigarette smoke.” 

He said: “Who?” 

I said: “You !” 

He said: “You are a liar!” 

I said: “No I am not, you do smell bad!” 

He said: “I will have you put out of this church.” 

I said: “I dare you! You are the one that should 
be put out!” 

He passed on and after Mass I went into the house 
of the priests and asked for him. He could not be 
found but two priests tried to make excuses and treat¬ 
ed me well. They said they smoked. I told them God 
said for them to cleanse themselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh. That they were making provisions for 
the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. I said: “What 
a shame for a man to dress like a saint and to smell 
like a devil!” 

One thing I have noticed—that the Catholic schools 
taught by the Brothers are saturated with vile tobacco 
smoke. I would not like to send a son to such a place 
for that reason alone. There are many things I like 
about the Catholic church, but why, oh, why is it so 
silent as a general thing on the liquor traffic? Why 
are so many of its members in this devil’s work ? Oh ! 
what a retribution will be theirs when it will be proven 
that instead of clothing the naked they have robbed 


200 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


children of clothes. Instead of feeding the hungry 
they have allowed them to starve because their bread 
was taken to buy drink. They send souls to prison 
and do not minister to them! 


CHAPTER XII. 

woman's MISSION FROM BIBLE STANDPOINT. 

God said: “It is not good that the man should be 
alone, I will make an help meet for him.” (Gen. 2 :18.) 
A companion, a partner, a guardian. The woman was 
made from the man. She was made from the flesh 
of his side, and her place is where she belongs, at his 
side. “She is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.” 
“Man was not made for the woman, but woman for 
the man.” (Gen. 2:23.). 

They were placed in the Garden; the woman 
yielded to Satan’s temptation, and Adam and his 
wife had their natures changed, and spiritual 
death followed. God dealing out the penalty, said: 
“Man was to labor among the thorns and thistles.” 
(Gen. 3:18.) Woman, or Eve, which means, 
“mother of all living,” was, “to have the pains of child 
birth, and also her husband was to rule over her, and 
she was to be in bondage to her husband.” (Gen. 3 :15) 
That will cause a woman to forget her duty to herself, 
and follow a man who is sometimes her bitter enemy. 



THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


201 


This is part of her punishment for her sin of disobey¬ 
ing God and being beguiled and deceived by Satan. 
Man enslaves women, Christ smashes this yoke. But 
there is a blessing given to women even in the pains 
of child birth, for, “the seed of the woman shall bruise 
the serpent’s head.” (Gen. 3:15.) Four thousand 
years after this prophecy Jesus was born, as the “seed 
of the woman,” not the seed of man. The only child 
that was ever born that was not the seed of man. 
Man was taken from earth; woman was taken from 
man; Jesus was taken from woman; Eternal life taken 
from Jesus. In all ages woman has taken an active 
part in the defense of man; as in the case of Sarah, 
God told Abraham in regard to their trouble about 
Hagar, “In all that (thy wife) Sarah has said unto 
thee, hearken unto her voice.” (Gen. 21:12.) In the 
case of Rebecca, who obeyed the will of God in opposi¬ 
tion to the will of her husband. Hulda and Deborah 
were judges, and the latter, lead Israel to battle at one 
time, she was victorious and sang this song, “The in¬ 
habitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel 
until that I, Deborah arose. That I arose a mother in 
Israel.” Judges 5:7.) Here is the warrior and mother 
in heart of woman. God gives these impulses with 
the pure motherhood. The bear fights for her cubs, 
never running from them in danger. She puts them 
behind her and then plants herself between them and 
danger, and until she is wounded, or killed nothing 
can get her little ones while she lives. The mother 
hen is a beautiful example of motherhood. She set 
on her eggs for three weeks, and the first food given 
her after this long fast is given to her little ones. Let 


202 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


her see a dog or a hawk, and she shrieks and fights 
and flies with a vengeance at these foes. She drives 
them away then she clucks and gathers her little brood 
under her wings. She does not go back on her nest, 
neither does she leave her brood to the care of the 
rooster. Oh! that mothers had the courage of even 
hens in the time of danger to their off-spring; but wo¬ 
men hide away, and the dogs of vice and the hawks 
of saloons come to their very door and take their chil¬ 
dren from their arms to hell, because of cowardice. 

Proverbs 31, gives God’s ideal of a woman. She 
teaches her boy to avoid bad women, to be a prohibi¬ 
tionist, to be good to the dependents, to be merciful; 
then the value of a virtuous woman is placed above all 
wealth. Tells that the heart of her husband doth safe¬ 
ly trust in her. (The husband if a Mason dare not 
trust in his wife.) Tells of confidence in each other, of 
the holy bonds of wedlock. She is industrious and 
works with her hands, she is like the merchant’s ship, 
she brings unto her family the valuables of wisdom 
and knowledge for husband and children. She is a 
business woman. She considers a field and buys it. 
How essential it is for a woman to have business 
knowledge, she is often left alone and is a prey to the 
schemes of grafters. “She girdeth her loins with 
strength.” (Prob. 31:17.) Not with the cursed corset. 
She is a good judge of merchandise, she does not buy 
the trash which takes her time to arrange and dust. 
She is charitably reaching out her hands to the needy. 
’’Her husband is known where he sitteth among the 
elders or good men,” (Prov. 31:23) not a tobacco or 
whiskey drunkard or a gambler. “She looks well to 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


203 


the ways of her household.” (Prov. 31:27. What is 
a woman's household here? Her husband, her chil¬ 
dren, her servants. She is to be the overseer in her 
house to see that her husband is instructed in good 
wavs, she is not the one to set a bad example by going 
to balls and theaters and card parties. “Let your wo¬ 
men be teachers of good things.” (Titus 2:3.) She 
sees that her son and daughter go in good company 
and are not out late and that their clothes are appro¬ 
priate for health and modesty, no rich foods or drinks 
to inflame the animal nature and passions, no thin ex¬ 
travagant dresses, no “peek-a-boo” waists, no intox¬ 
icants, no card parties. “Her children will rise up and 
call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. 
Many daughters have done virtuously but thou excell- 
eth them all. Give her of the fruit of her hands and 
let her own works praise her in the gates.” “Prov. 31: 
28-31. The cities were then walled cities and the 
gates were where the judges and chief persons met,” 
so let the works of a woman praise her not only in her 
home but at the chief places of justice. Give her the 
fruit of her hands; the ballot is now the best fruit of 
the hands of woman. 

Why work with might and main to raise children 
to have them murdered and mangled and sent to hell. 
Let us work might and main to close saloons before 
it is safe to give birth to children. A woman that 
feareth the' Lord, she shall be praised. There is noth¬ 
ing so sweet as the heart of a woman filled with the 
grace of God. Oh mother, dear mother, I have never 
heard a man tell of his fashionable or stylish mother, 
of a mother who had silver chains or who entertained 


204 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


the “four-hundred.” No these are the characteristics 
that they cherish. “My mother was a Christian, she 
wore the white ribbon,” or “She was a Sunday school 
teacher,” or “She was a good old fashioned shouting 
Methodist.” “She never allowed cards in the house.” 
“She never allowed me to use tobacco.” “My mother 
was a praying woman and taught me to pray.” Where 
is there not a mother that would not rejoice to have 
a son say that of her. God expressly commands wo¬ 
men not to wear expensive or showy clothing. He 
says to “despise the garments spotted with the flesh.” 
(Jude 23.) Thousands of homes have been broken 
up and women gone to hell from the love of dress. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

THE RIGHTS OF MOTHERS TO PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN. 

If a man starts a ranch to raise cattle he protects 
the females in raising their young. He will kill the 
animals that will destroy his stock, and if he produces 
the pelt or scalp of these animals the state pays him a 
bounty. How is it with the human mothers? They 
produce the most valuable offspring, while children are 
murdered before our eyes and our hands are tied so 
we cannot rescue them. No one will say but that wo¬ 
man represents more morality than man, also that the 
mother is more interested in the children than the 
father; then of course, the party who has the most 
care and love should be allowed the largest privilege 
to exercise it. 

America claims more civilization than any other na¬ 
tion on earth. In the main this is so. But certainly 
she does not protect motherhood, and this is her peril. 
Some of the best reigns have been those of queens. 
All nations have had their women rulers, but the moth¬ 
ers of America are not allowed to say who shall be the 
ones to help them make good citizens of their own chil¬ 
dren, while their bitter foes prey upon their offspring 
as cannibals. A widow with six sons has a little home. 
She is taxed the same in proportion as the brewer, who 
carries on the human butcher-shop that grinds up the 
six sons of the widow. He and his crowd (republi¬ 
cans and democrats) have the ballot that smashes the 
poor widow’s boys and takes her substance to prose- 


206 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


cute them after they are made criminals, to pay for 
their arrest, to build a jail for them. Her heart is 
broken, home is gone, and disgrace is hers. To ac¬ 
complish this she is rendered helpless by having no 
voice or ballot to protect herself. God never made an 
animal that he did not give it some means of defense. 
While I am writing this I am in Bridgeport, Conneti- 
cut. I find this a city of eighty-two thousand. The 
president of the board of education is P. W. Wren, 
who is president of the Conneticut Breweries and own¬ 
er of one of the largest wholesale whiskey houses in 
the state. This is as consistent as if one were to start 
a ranch to raise chickens, ducks, pigs and calves and 
then place a wolf to guard them from harm. The busi¬ 
ness of the brewer is to sell beer. No animal but man¬ 
kind will use this rotten slop, for the others by instinct 
know it is poison. No man would let his horses drink 
it, for they would be dangerous instead of being use¬ 
ful. The only way to make the brewer’s business pro¬ 
fitable is to have boys and girls as consumers. The 
brewer is not entirely to blame. It is the voter. Moth¬ 
ers would never vote for such a man to be the public 
guardian of the morals of their children. All liquor 
men, or liquor license men, are opposed to “woman 
suffrage,” for the reason that should women vote, we 
would have prohibition or abolition of the vice. The 
women saved prohibition in Topeka in the year 1903 
by five hundred majority, while it would have been 
lost by two hundred if men only had voted. The con¬ 
test was between the wet and dry mayors. Where wo¬ 
men have the ballot, even in municipal affairs, no state 
has re-submitted or brought back the saloon. When 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


207 


man elevates a woman he elevates himself. A degrad¬ 
ed woman means many degraded men. Free men must 
be the sons of free women. This land cannot be the 
land of the free or home of the brave, until woman 
gets her freedom and men are brave and just to award 
it to her. No man can have the true impulse of liberty 
and want his mother to be a slave. 

The constitution of the United States starts out by 
saying: “We, the people of the United States.” Wo¬ 
men are people as well as men. Therefore, I advise 
all women to go to the polls and vote in spring and 
fall elections. We want the moral, intellectual elector¬ 
ate. The brewer, distiller, saloon man, their agents, 
even the colored man, who never asked for it, was 
given a vote. The foreigners in a few months, or a 
year, after landing, are given the ballot, but the lov¬ 
ing, true defenders of God, home and all the best in¬ 
terests of humanity, are compelled to see their sons, 
husbands, and fathers, murdered before their eyes, 
without the sign of a protest from the government un¬ 
der which they live. The outrageous unfairness of 
this is quite evident when we consider that the ballot 
is represented and controlled by the worst element, 
when it should be by the best. The women are more 
affected by oppression than man. She is the mother, 
the rest are the children. 

The mother would vote to save the boy, and make 
a good citizen of him. 

The saloon man votes to make drunkards, to injure, 
to destroy and ruin the citizen. 

The best voters for President are cast out, the vil- 


208 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


est put in, no wonder we have Theodore Roosevelt, 
the Dutch brewers’ choice. 

Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to consult with 
them before he left Laban, and he took their advice. 
Moses, Aaron and Miriam were chosen by God to 
lead the people out of Egypt. The Bible so states it. 
Huldah and Deborah were prophets. Rahab was the 
first convert in Canaan; she and her family were all 
that was blessed in that cursed city of Jericho. Esther 
saved the whole Jewish nation. A woman smashed 
the head of the wicked Abimelech as did Jael the wife 
of Heber, also. In the Psalms, 68:11, the original 
says: “The Lord gave the word; great was the army 
of women who published it.” 

Jesus did his first miracle at the request of a wo¬ 
man, still he rebuked her. He felt her powerful influ¬ 
ence and would know no higher will except his heav¬ 
enly Father’s. Christ defended woman, saying: “Why 
trouble ye the woman, she hath wrought a good work 
on me,” hereby rebuking men to interfere with any wo¬ 
man’s work when it is good. Christ never rebuked 
even the harlot. There was not a greater preacher 
than the woman at the well that brought out the city 
of Samaria to see Jesus. Philip had four daughters 
that prophesied. Women were the first disciples, they 
followed Christ from Galilee. He chose the men, the 
women chose Him. Pheobe was a deaconess of the 
church of Cenchrea. The Bible records no act or word 
of woman against Christ. With all His sufferings not 
one was caused by a woman. The poor prostitute be¬ 
stowed the most loving service when she wept at His 
feet, kissing them. 


13 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


209 


This gives some of the Bible women. There have 
been others in all ages. One instance in the early his¬ 
tory of Rome. There was a band of men who first set¬ 
tled Rome. They wished to get wives for themselves 
and this was the plan by which they got them. 

The Romans made a great feast; had games; in¬ 
vited the Sabine nation to come with their wives and 
daughters, which they did. In the height of the foot¬ 
races and archery, the Romans rushed in among their 
invited guests and each snatched a woman. The Sa¬ 
bines returned and prepared for war. The lines of 
battle were drawn. The stolen women had a confer¬ 
ence and decided to stop the war. They rushed in be¬ 
tween the Sabine men, their former husbands and 
fathers, and the Romans, their last husbands, and fore- 
bade bloodshed by saying: “You will have to kill each 
other over our dead bodies.” 

If those heathen women by their act could reconcile 
two nations, is it not a rebuke to women in this Chris¬ 
tian age for their cowardice in not coming forward 
and demanding recognition in the matter of being a 
go-between, for one class of men are arrayed against 
another. 

A hundred thousand of our sons are being sent to 
drunkard’s graves and a drunkard’s hell every year. 
By a bold stand for the right, to defend our loved ones, 
let us rush between and stop this deadly strife, with 
the same heroism of the women of Rome, “over our 
dead bodies.” Women will get the ballot in time, but 
it can be hastened only by women themselves. It will 
be a great victory for mankind when women can veto 
the curse of mankind. The mother impulse is the 


210 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


strongest within women, and when she can protect 
her offspring, she will make a greater effort to do so 
than now. She will not then do as many now do, make 
her body a manikin to hang the fashions of the day 
on. She will not then display her form to attract the 
vulgar gaze of the world. She will not place the corp¬ 
ses of cats or birds on her head. She will not wear 
mops at the bottom of her dress to sweep up the filth 
of the earth. She will not wear shoes that injure her, 
as the heathen do. She will not put her body in the 
vice of a corset, displacing the organs of her body, 
unfitting her to be a mother, causing more than half 
the surgical operations in the hospitals. She will then 
discuss character more than fashion. She will be 
ashamed of her silly, giggling and meaningless conver¬ 
sation. God said: “A man shall not wear that which 
pertains to a woman neither shall a woman put on a 
man’s garment for all that do such things are an abom¬ 
ination unto God.” Women will then see the'vulgarity 
and immodesty and sin in dressing in male attire or 
in any other form of indecent exposure of her person. 

Young men often say to me: “Mrs. Nation,- if I go 
to see young ladies I can learn nothing from them. 
They are not interested in the subjects that are im¬ 
proving to young men. They read only trash.” Also 
they say: “I cannot afford to marry. I cannot sup¬ 
port a woman. Their wants are so many.” Dress is 
a remnant of barbarism. The Indians delight in differ¬ 
ent colors, the plumage of birds, the skins of animals, 
even rattle-snakes. We retrograde to their level when 
we attract the vulgar gaze to such vanities. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 

The life of a soul moved on by the Holy Spirit is 
beyond human expression, as well as human under¬ 
standing. “He that is spiritual judgeth” (examines) 
all things, but he himself is judged (or examined) of 
no man.” (1 Cor. 2:15.) The spiritual man can see 
the condition of the unregenerate for he was once in 
darkness, but the unregenerate can never understand 
the condition of the regenerate. The impulses that 
move one born of God is one of the puzzles not possi¬ 
ble to be known by the wisdom of the wise of this 
world. ’Tis a secret, ’tis hidden, and can come only 
by Divine Revelation and is always a miracle, the 
greatest ever performed. It raises from the dead, 
never to die again. It opens the eyes never to be 
closed again, ’tis an armor that causes us to handle 
serpents (devils) without harm and we can hear 
or drink poisons, or doctrines but they will not kill 
our soul. “These signs shall follow them that believe.” 
(Mark 16 :17.) The real Christ life is and always will 
be hateful to the world. I have often heard it said of 
me: “I cannot bear that Carry Nation!” I wanted 
only to do the people good. I do not blame these as 
I once did; “For the carnal mind is not subject to the 
law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:7.) 
“Marvel not that the world hate you, ye know that 
it hated me before it hated you.” (I John 3:13; 
John 15:18.) I know that when I was ten years 


212 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


old I felt the movings of God’s spirit—got an 
answer of peace, but like a little infant pined away, 
for lack of care and nourishment. Nothing but the 
divine mercy of Almighty God could have directed the 
affairs of my tempest-tossed life. I now know there 
are no accidents. A sparrow falls by a special provi¬ 
dence. There are no sins or temptations that I can 
not say: “My God delivered, saved and forgave me 
for that.” I go to prisons and all kinds of houses of 
sin. I say: “I can tell you of one who can save and 
forgive you for that, he forgave me, and he will for¬ 
give you, for I was as bad, or worse, than you.” I 
have never seen anyone whom I thought had commit¬ 
ted more sin than I. Many will lift up horrified hands 
at this but ’tis true. I never saw the corruption of 
but one life, one heart,—that was mine. I was never 
so shocked, so disgusted, so distracted with remorse 
over any life, so much as my own. My heart was the 
foulest place I ever saw. I do not know what is in 
other people’s hearts. Paul meant this when he said: 
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of 
whom I am chief.” (I Tim. 1:98.) Said, “This is 
worthy of all acceptation,” or was, a good testimony. 
(I Tim. 1:15.) Because one can never see how bad 
the heart is, until God sheds the light to see it. So 
many people are deceived, as a blind man. They may 
be in filth, and do not know it. It is there, but not 
seen, for lack of light. 

I was first condemned by reading the Psalms. I 
said: “If Christians have impulses to “rejoice,” clap 
their hands, and “shout,” I do not know what it is. 
I find no response of gladness in my heart.” I trem- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


21)5 


bled with fear to think of God and the judgment day. 
This continued from youth up to the age of forty. At 
this time I received from Christ the “Gift of the Holy 
Ghost,” the “Unction,” that which “leads unto all 
truth.” (John 16:13.) There are many names for 
this; I call it the Bible name. “Hold fast the form of 
sound words.” (II Tim. 1:13.) Before this I had 
never spoken a word for God or prayed in public. At 
one time I was called on to do so, and was terrified 
and mumbled out something, that was no prayer. 
Now all was changed: “I was glad when they said 
unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” I was 
anxious for my time to come to tell how good Jesus 
was to me. When I met my neighbors I would be 
heavy-hearted, because they talked of servants, house 
cleaning, the new fashions, and these seemed so vain, 
so frivolous. I liked to direct their minds to speak of 
the Scriptures, and of the ways of doing work for 
God. I soon found out I was not welcome, I was 
looked upon as an intruder, was often avoided, I could 
see the frowns and glances of impatience at my pres¬ 
ence. These would cause me many a cry and morti¬ 
fication. My best companion was the Bible. I then 
knew what David meant when he said: “More to be 
desired are they, than gold, yea, than much fine gold; 
sweeter also than the honey and the honey comb.” 
(Ps. 19 :10.) I often kiss and caress my Bible; ’tis the 
most precious of all earthly treasures. 

I wonder how people can live any kind of Christian 
life without reading the Scriptures and prayer. If I 
neglect this one day I feel impatient, restless,—a soul 
hunger. Spurgeon is my favorite of all ministers. I 


214 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


read where he said, “Being a Christian was something 
like taking a sea bath. You go in up to the ankles and 
there is no pleasure, then to the knees is not much bet¬ 
ter, but if you wish to know the pleasure of a bath take 
a 'header and plunge. Then you can say, ‘how glor¬ 
ious.’ ” Christian life is like a journey. There are 
flowers and fruit and streams; thorns, dark valleys and 
fires; rocky steeps from whose summits you can See 
beautiful prospects. There is rest, refreshment, sleep 
and bitter tearful watchings. ’Tis a great pleasure to 
me to be in a spiritual meeting. To know by the testi¬ 
mony how far they have traveled. Some one in the 
garden of delights; he wonders why that one tells of 
the dark valley. One at the base of the hill cannot un¬ 
derstand why others see what he cannot. The young 
beginner tells of the beautiful sights and songs; and 
maybe the one who has been on the road almost a life 
time will tell of the “continual heaviness, hours of 
darkness, and the smoking furnace, and the lamp.” I 
have found that the warrior is never as bouyant as the 
new recruit, in his dress parade. We humor children, 
and call on men to labor. Few, comparatively, get to 
the place where they prefer hard labor; to endure deso¬ 
lation of heart; to seek self in nothing: to see all loved 
but himself; to see others exalted, but only abasement 
for self; to “endure hardness as a good soldier;” (II 
Tim. 2:3), to lay on the ground; to eat hard tack; to 
make long, weary marches; footsore and still fight on; 
to suffer traveling over rocks and thorns; to endure 
the loss of all things.” I will take this last for mine. 
’Tis the best, Oh my God, give me this! “He that 
goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seeds shall 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


215 


doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves 
with him.” (Ps. 126:6.) I do not ask this because 
I enjoy suffering but to prove my love and gratitude 
to Him who loved me, and gave Himself for me. 

After we moved to Medicine Lodge the Free Meth¬ 
odists came there and held a meeting. I had never 
heard the doctrine of the “second blessing” or “sancti¬ 
fication” taught. It was very interesting to me. Three 
women called to see me in my home, to ask me if I 
had ever “had the Gift.” I told them I had something 
peculiar given me from God in Texas; asked them to 
pray to God to give this great blessing to me or a wit¬ 
ness that he had done so. These sisters were Mrs. 
Painter, Green and Marvin. I also prayed for myself. 
In about ten days from that time I was in my sitting 
room. It was raining. A minister and his daughter 
were at our house, (Mr. Laurance, a Baptist.) We 
were all quietly reading in the room. I was in medita¬ 
tion, praying and saying: “Just now, blessed Father, 
give me the witness.” Then a wonderful thing took 
place, which it is not “lawful” or possible for me to 
utter. II Cor. 12:4.) Something was poured on top 
of my head, running all over and through me, which 
I call divine electricity. The two persons who were 
in the room, Mr. Laurance and his daughter, were very 
much startled, for I jumped up, clapped my hands, 
saying: “I have this from God, this divine Gift.” I 
went below in the basement that I might give vent to 
my gratitude, and under my breath I walked up and 
down, thanking, praising, crying and laughing. 

Like the woman that found the piece of silver that 
was lost, I had to tell my neighbors. I wrapped myself 


216 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


up to be protected from the rain, and ran to Sister 
Painter, near by, then to Sister Dollar’s and Marvin’s 
and several others, to tell them of my great blessing. 

When I returned I opened my Bible. Every word 
and every letter was surrounded with a bright light. 
I turned over the leaves, and I saw the meaning on the 
pages at a glance. There was a new light and mean¬ 
ing. I have never been able to express that experi¬ 
ence in any other way than to say I was “eating” the 
word of God. I could now understand why we do 
not understand the figures and expressions used in the 
Bible, because I have had several experiences, that 
were impossible to explain by human language. 

I told Mr. Nation that the Bible was a new book to 
me, tried to explain to him; told him I now saw the 
meaning of everything. He said: “Explain Lazarus 
and the rich man.” I turned to it instantly. The di¬ 
vine light gave a new meaning to me. I commented 
thus as I read it: “This rich man is the Jewish nation, 
with its gorgeous temple service. The poor man is the 
Gentile nations called dogs, no temple, no altar, no 
God, no healing; like a man with an incurable loath¬ 
some disease. These begged from the Jews the crumbs 
that fell to their dogs. This rich man had much 
goods. He could have shared to bless, but through 
lack of charity he withheld. 

The beggar died, and angels took him to Abraham’s 
bosom, the very place the Jews thought was only for 
them. This is a figure of the death to sin, and the life 
to righteousness. The natural must die before the 
spiritual can live. The rich man died, and was buried. 
The Jewish nation died as it is here predicted, and in 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


217 


hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. It is not 
said that the Gentiles, or Lazarus were buried. The 
Jews as a nation are dead, never to be resurrected. 
They have been scattered abroad in torments, a people 
without a land, a hiss and a byword, as God said. The 
Jew sees the Gentiles with the good things, he once 
had. Has time and time again begged relief from 
them. The Jews wish no companionship in their mis¬ 
ery, have no missionaries. Five is a number applied 
to humanity,—five senses, five fingers, five toes. The 
gulf spoken of as being impassable, is the separateness 
of the Jews from all others. 

The rich man wants one from the dead to go to his 
five brethren, or humanity. Abraham or the Gospel 
reminds the Jew that Moses and the prophets were as 
convincing; they would not believe them. Christ said : 
“If they hear not Moses and the prophets—for they 
wrote of me—neither will they be persuaded though 
one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:31.) Christ in 
this parable prophesied of his own death and resurrec¬ 
tion, they did not believe when he arose from the dead. 

Scripture was given a meaning I had never heard 
of before. This light continued for about three days. 
Oh! if I had devoted all my time then to reading while 
I had this divine light! We never know the value of 
any blessing, until it is gone. Persons almost univers¬ 
ally say of me: “You have studied and remember so 
much of the Bible,” but this is a gift from God. I 
know why God gave this to me. Because I have al¬ 
ways been a reader and a student of holy teachings, 
even when it was sealed, and often to me, contradic¬ 
tory. “If any will do His will, they shall know of the 


218 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


doctrine.” (John 7:17.) Jesus said: “Search the 
Scriptures.” (John 5:39.) “Study to show thyself a 
workman well approved unto God, that needeth not to 
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Tis a 
sweet love letter by an independent God to a depend¬ 
ent people. “Oh! the depth of the riches, both of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are 
his judgments and his ways past finding out.” (Rom. 
11:33.) Yet His love can be felt and known by all. 
Not one of the severe judgments of God but they re¬ 
flect this tender love of God, in destroying that which 
love hates, because sin is the enemy of love, the bitter 
foe to the happiness of mankind; therefore ’tis an evi¬ 
dence of the intensity of love to destroy sin. Take for 
instance the destruction of the Amalekites. This peo¬ 
ple was a curse to the earth and the enemy of all good. 
“Remember what Amalek did unto thee, by the way, 
when ye were come forth out of Egypt. How he met 
thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even 
all that were feeble behind thee when thou wast faint 
and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it 
shall be when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest 
from thine enemies, thou shalt blot out the rememb¬ 
rance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Deut. 25:17- 
19.) God waited four hundred years from this time. 
They still were murderers. Then he told Saul to utterly 
destroy this cruel nation. (I Sam. 15:3.) The state 
kills a man now. This is not a cruelty but a mercy, 
“And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall 
henceforth commit no more any such evil.” “’Tis 
righteous retribution with God to recompense tribula¬ 
tion to those who trouble you.” (II Thes. 1:6.) 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


219 


Persons often argue that the books of the Bible are 
written by man and cannot be said to be written by 
God. I illustrate the way God wrote the Bible by this: 
You have a package of letters from your mother. 
Some are written with red ink, some with black, some 
with a stub pen, some with a fine point, some with a 
pencil, etc. You do not say, the pen wrote me this 
letter and the pencil wrote me that. No, this is not 
spoken of or considered. You say: “My mother wrote 
these letters to me.” Just so, Moses is God’s pen, 
with which he wrote the five books of the pentateuch. 
Joshua was also a pen, and Ezra, Job, David, Solomon, 
and so with the writers of the New Testament. God 
guided them as we do our pen. The Bible carries with¬ 
in itself its own evidence of divinity. It requires no 
proof. It but weakens its own evidence, to appeal to 
human aid. The fulfilled prophesy, its inimitable 
poetry, is proof to the natural man to know it to be 
above the human mind, and to a child of God it speaks 
with life, and love more potent than an earthly parent 
to their child. The Ploly Spirit only can interpret his 
own words: “’Tis foolishness to those who perish, but 
unto us who are saved it is the power of God.” (I Cor. 
1 : 18 .) 


CHAPTER XV. 

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY FOR MY CHRISTIAN WORK. 

I have a great benediction on my work. Where- 
ever I go the dear mothers shake my hand and kiss 
my face, saying: “God bless you. I want to help you. 
You did what I wanted to do.” It is the heart of 
motherhood running over with love. “The gentle are 
the brave, the loving are the daring.” 

I got a telegram from a man saying: “Your article 
in Physical Culture on the use of tobacco has cured 
me of the vice.” One man from Omaha, Nebraska, 
wrote: “Three years ago I was a drunkard. I had a 
drug store. I was losing business and going to ruin 
generally. When I heard of what you did, I said: 
Tf that woman can do that to save others, I ought to 
do something for myself.’ So now I am a changed 
man. My wife is a changed woman. I have to thank 
you and Almighty God. My business is growing every 
day.” 

Upon several occasions I have had people to put 
five dollars in my hand. While I was lecturing in 
Pasadena, California, for the Y. M. C. A. one young 
man put in my hand what I thought was a silver dollar, 
but on looking it was a twenty dollar gold piece. I 
said: “I will lay that up in heaven for you.” And so 
I have. I never learned his name but he will certainly 
find that twenty dollars in the bank of heaven with in¬ 
terest. 

When I first started out in this crusade I was called 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


221 


crazy and a “freak” by my enemies, but now they say: 
“No, Carry Nation, you are not crazy, but you are 
sharp. You started out to accomplish something and 
you did. You are a grafter. It is the money you are 
after.” Jesus said: “John came neither eating or 
drinking and ye say, Behold a wine bibber and a glut¬ 
ton.” So it is the world never did understand an un¬ 
selfish life. Paul said: “It is a very small thing that 
I shall be judged of man’s judgment, I judge not mine 
ownself, for I know nothing by myself.” (Gal. 1:10.) 

There have been from the first time I started out, 
persons who understood that God moved me. These 
were students of the Old Scriptures. Jesus told the 
people before the New Testament was written to 
“search the Scriptures—these are they that testify of 
me. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and 
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God 
may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto every good 
work.” (II Tim. 3:16.) To be thorough one must 
know the old as well as the new. In all the sermons^ 
of Paul, Peter and the rest, they quote from old Scrip¬ 
ture. So did Jesus. Read Peter’s first sermon on the 
day of Pentecost. There is a tendency to study the 
New Testament more than the Old. It is not possible 
to understand the New, unless we first study the Old. 
One of my favorite books is Deuteronomy, the dying 
words of Moses. Pie here repeats the great mercy, 
consideration and power of God’s dealings with his 
people. Tells the kind of characters God will bless. 
How God loves the pure and good. How He hates 
the wicked. We here see that God creates good and 


222 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


evil, and holds us responsible for the choosing. While 
God rules in all things we have the power to bring on 
ourselves blessings or cursings. (Deut. 30:19.) This 
book declares the man or woman invincible that aban¬ 
dons himself or herself to do God’s will. 

“True merit lies in braving the unequal. 

True glory comes from daring to begin. 

God loves the man or woman, who reckless 
of the sequel, 

Fights long and well, whether they lose or win.” 

In the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, God com¬ 
manded the children of Israel to “destroy the images,” 
“break down” the altars and “burn the graven images” 
of the Gods of the heathen. This was smashing! Also 
said to them: “If you do not drive them out they shall 
be thorns in your sides.” (Num. 33:55.) God gave 
them power and ability to do this, then he required 
them to dot it. God supplies man’s “cannots,” not his 
“will nots.” In Numbers twenty-fifth chapter, Phineas 
was given God’s covenant of peace and the priesthood, 

because he slew the woman and man that were com- 
# 

mitting sin: “Because he was jealous for his God and 
made an atonement for the children of Israel.” (Num. 
25:13.) This was smashing. God himself smashed 
up Sodom and Gomorrah. In the seventeenth chapter 
of Deuteronomy, verses five and seven God says: “The 
idolator shall be stoned with stones till he die. So 
shalt thou put the evil away from you.” This is 
smashing! I could write a book recounting the inci¬ 
dents recorded in God’s Word. 

“What is in thine hand, Abel?” 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


223 


“Nothing but one wee lamb, O God, taken from the 
flock. I purpose offering it to thee, a willing sacrifice.” 

And so he did. And the sweet smell of that burning 
has been filling the air ever since, and constantly go¬ 
ing up to God as a perpetual sacrifice of praise. 

“What is it thou hast in thine hand, Moses?” 

“Nothing but a staff, O God, with which I tend my 
flocks.” 

“Take it and use it for me.” 

And he did; and with it wrought more wondrous 
things than Egypt and her proud king had seen before. 

“Mary, what is that thou hast in thine hand?” 

“Nothing but a pot of sweet-smelling ointment, O 
God, wherewith I would anoint thine only One called 
Jesus.” 

And so she did; and not only did the perfume fill 
all the house in which they were, but the Bible-reading 
world has been fragrant with the memory of this 
blessed act of love, which has ever been spoken of “for 
a memorial of her.” 

“Poor woman, what is it that thou hast in thine 
hand ?” 

“Only two mites, Lord. It is very little; but then 
it is all I have, and I would put it into thy treasury.” 

And so she did; and the story of her generous giv¬ 
ing has ever since wrought like a charm, prompting 
others to give to the Lord. 

“What is it that thou hast in thine hand, Dorcas?” 

“Only a needle, Lord.” 

“Take it and use it for me.” 

And so she did; and not only were the suffering poor 
of Joppa warmly clad, but inspired by her loving life. 


224 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


“Dorcas Societies” even now continue their benign 
mission to the poor throughout the earth. 

“What is it in thine hand, Shamgar?” 

“Only an ox goad, a stick with which to drive oxen. 
I slew six hundred enemies of God, and man deliver¬ 
ing from slavery God’s people.” 

“What is it in thine hand Samson?” 

“The jaw bone of an ass which was a power in the 
hand used by God, to slay a thousand wicked cruel 
infidels.” 

“David why do you lay aside the armor of Saul and 
meet the giant, with only a sling?” 

“My God will give the power to slay the foe to 
mercy and truth.” 

“What is in thine hands Gideon?” 

“Nothing but an empty pitcher, a lamp and a 
trumpet. I blew with my trumpet and smashed the 
pitchers.” 

“Carry Nation, what have you in your hand?” 

Sometimes a rock; sometimes a hatchet; God told 
me to use these to smash that which has smashed and 
will smash hearts and souls. The sound of this lov¬ 
ing deed will stir conscience and hearts and while I 
cannot finish the smashing, the voter of this nation 
will use their ballots that will, and this impulse will 
Carry A. Nation. 

God sent an angel from heaven to tell Gideon to 
smash up the altar and image of Baal. By divine 
command Achan and family were smashed. God 
would not give Joshua victory until this was done. 
Saul was commanded by God (through his prophet 


14 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


225 


Samuel,) to utterly destroy the Amalekite nation, 
and all their substance. He was disobedient and saved 
the king. Samuel hacked or smashed up Agag, al¬ 
though Saul was the regularly appointed one. This is 
a case directly in point. The officers in Kansas were 
oath-bound to do what Carry A. Nation did. 

Our Savior’s mission on earth was to “break 
(smash) every yoke and let the oppressed go free.” 
Isa. 58 :6. Upon two occasions he made a scourge, of 
small cords and laid it on the backs of wicked men 
who were doing unlawful things. He came into this 
world “to destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 
3:8.) “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under 
your feet shortly.” (Rom. 16:20.) We are told to 
“Abhor that which is evil,” (Rom. 12:9,) to “Resist 
(or fight) the devil and he will flee.” (Jas. 4:7.) We 
are not to be “Overcome with evil but to overcome evil 
with good.” (Rom. 12:21.) How? Resist the devil. 
God blessed the church at Ephesus, because they 
“hated the evil workers, tried them and found them 
liars.” The hatred of sin is one mark of a Christian. 
Just in proportion to your love for God will be your 
hatred of evil. I will here give you a Bible reading 
on the subject. These are some instances of smash¬ 
ing. The ten plagues of Egypt and the overthrow of 
Pharaoh, were smashing. The death of the first born 
also: 

Gen. 19 :24, 9 :5, 6, 4:7-ll; Lev. 19 :17; Num. 33 :55, 
56; Deut. 7:2-5, 21:1-9; 21:18-21, 13:12-18, 17:5-7, 
19:13-20, 25:17-19, 30:15-19; Josh. 7:25, 26, 7:10-12, 
10:24-26, 23:7 ; Judges 3:31, 4:21, 6:25, 7:20, 15:15, 
9 :53 ; 1 Sam. 15 :33 ; 2 Chron. 34:4, 5, 7; Neh. 13 :8-25 ; 


226 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Isa. 28:21, 54:16; Matt. 21:12; John 2:13-23; Acts 
13:8-11. 

If I could I would turn the key on every church in 
the land, so as to teach some preachers to go out, and 
not stay in, and compel poor sinners to stay out. I 
yield no territory to the devil. Let us take every sa¬ 
loon, every house of prostitution of men and women 
for God. “There shall not a hoof be left behind.” 
(Exod. 10:26.) “The kingdom of heaven suffereth 
violence, and the violent take it by force,” (Matt. 11: 
12,) which means that where the evil is aggressive, 
we must be more so, and take, compelling surrender 
by the determination never to yield. 

I feel that I have been peculiarly favored to go into 
these places, to “cry aloud and spare not and show 
my people their sins.” (Isa. 58:1.) I find this class so 
hungry for something better. These poor actresses, 
who dress in tights and sing indecent songs, are a 
weary, tired, heart-sick lot of slaves. I mingle with 
them as a sister. When I can say a warning word I 
say it. I call them affectionate names and mean it. 
God will judge both of us. He knows who loved 
much; he can forgive much. Christ said to a lot of 
men who took the amen pews: “The publicans and 
harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.” 
(Matt. 21:31.) Why? They “repented when they 
heard.” “How are they to hear without a preacher?” 
I never see a man or woman so low but I say, as a 
sculptor said of the marble: “There is an angel there.” 
Oh, God, help me to bring it out! 

Jesus received sinners and ate with them. He left 
a command that Christians should invite these to feasts 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


22 r 


in their homes. Oh! what a revival of religion there 
would be if the homes of Christians were opened to 
the lost and sinful, who are dying for some demonstra¬ 
tion of love. If the Son of God, the lovely, the pure, 
the blessed ate with sinners, ought it not to be a priv¬ 
ilege to follow Him. We are commanded to “reprove, 
rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering and doc¬ 
trine.” (II Tim. 4:2.) People will work in a revival 
to get sinners saved, and will pass them day after day 
on the street and not a word of Scripture, do they use 
to remind them of God’s judgments. Jesus said: 
“The world hateth me because I testify of it that the 
works thereof are evil.” (John 7:7.) I have had men 
to swear at me, call me names and threaten to knock 
me down. At first this caused me to feel mortified but 
that passed off. These very men have afterward told 
me I was right and they were wrong. The devil 
“threw some on the ground and they foamed at the 
mouth” before he was cast out. I have often taken 
cigars and cigarettes out of men’s and boy’s mouths. 
I wished to show them the wrong and that I was a 
friend. Would you let one you love take a knife to 
open a vein or cut himself ? Oh! the sweetness and 
force of that promise: “Your labor is never in vain in 
the Lord.” (Isa. 65 :23.) This covers all cases, if you, 
for the love of God, do anything. I often say to my¬ 
self, after rebuking for sin: “You made a mistake in 
the way you did this or that, and are you sure it was 
done for the love of God and your neighbor?” “Yes.” 
Then “your labor is never in vain in the Lord.” It is 
not what we do that prospers, but what God blesses. 
“He that planteth is nothing and he that watereth is 


228 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


nothing, but it is God that giveth the increase.’’ (I Cor. 
3:7.) And it matters not how awkward the work, if 
it be done from love of God, it will prosper. Like 
other things, the more you do, the better you can do. 

All the Christian work I ever did seemed to meet 
with severe opposition from church members. This 
is a great stumbling block to some. The church cruci¬ 
fied our blessed Christ, that is, it was the hypocrites; 
for the church is the light and salt, the body of Christ. 
“If I yet please men, I should not be the servant of 
Christ.” (Gal. 1:10.) There is no other organization 
but the church of Christ that persecutes its own fol¬ 
lowers. The hierarchy in the church told Christ “He 
had a devil,” but they could not meet the argument 
when He said: “A kingdom divided against itself will 
not stand.” If I, by the spirit of Beelzebub, cast out 
devils, by what kind of a spirit do your children cast 
them out.” The devil never destroys his own work. 
If the saloon is of the devil, the power that destroys it 
is the opposite. If a mother should see a gun pointed 
at her son would she break the law to snatch the gun 
and smash it? The gun was not hers. It may have 
been worth a thousand dollars. The saloon is worse 
than the gun which could only destroy the body. 

It is a great blessing to know your mission in life. 
I know why Christians are waiting with folded hands, 
not being able to see their mission. They are not will¬ 
ing to pay the great price for their commission. The 
rich young man could have been a follower of Jesus, 
the greatest honor in earth or heaven, and could have 
had eternal treasure in heaven for the transient gain 
of earth. He would not pay the price. You must give 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


229 


all, to get all. The effect of smashing has always been 
to cause the people to arouse themselves. The Levite 
that severed his dead concubine and sent parts of her 
body to the different tribes of Israel was to cause the 
people to “consider, take- advice and speak.” Then 
they acted and four hundred thousand men presented 
themselves to redress this wrong. 

The smashing in Kansas was to arouse the people. 
If some ordinary means had been used, people would 
have heard and forgotten, but the “strange act” de¬ 
manded an explanation and the people wanted that, 
and they never will stop talking about this until the 
question is settled. 

Let us consider the character of Moses. It is said 
this man disobeyed God but once, and he was the 
“meekest of all men.” We are first attracted to him 
peculiarly because he “refused to be called the son of 
Pharaoh’s daughter, rather suffering afflictions with 
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin 
for a season.” (Heb. 11:25.) Rather be counted with 
the poor despised, afflicted slaves under the taskmas¬ 
ter’s lash than be a king or an absolute monarch. This 
brought out his characteristic prohibition of sin,—the 
renouncing of every worldly ambition, He here made 
the choice, at the time when the temptations were 
the greatest, for all that the world could offer was his. 
He gave all and paid the price it requires to get all. 
On the banks of the Nile he sees one man oppressing 
another. That spirit of prohibition of this great wrong 
caused him to strike (smash) the oppressor. 

Here is a lovable trait of this great man. Moses, 
could not look on and see the helpless suffer at the 


230 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


hands of another, even though it brought death to 
himself. Forgetful of his own safety, defying the ab¬ 
solute power and authority of this despot, so far as it 
lay in his power, against all these odds he redressed 
the wrong of a fellow creature. God saw in Moses a 
man whom He could use. From the golden throne he 
sought a retreat, and for forty years was an humble 
shepherd, learning the lesson of caring for the flocks 
of Jethro, before he should be called to take the over¬ 
sight of the flock of God. “He that is faithful in that 
which is least is faithful also in that which is much.” 
God called this man out of the wilderness to go to the 
greatest court on earth as His ambassador. Not one 
compromise would he make, still true to his prohibi¬ 
tion principles. God never used or blessed any man 
or woman that was not a prohibitionist. Eli was one 
of those conservatives and said only, “Nay verily my 
sons. 5 '’ And he got his neck broken and both of his 
sons in the iniquity which he knew.” Moses, although 
the meekest of all men, he said to Pharaoh, “There 
shall not a hoof be left behind.” (Exod. 10:26.) 'True 
to the uncompromising spirit of a great leader. When 
in the Mount, seeing the idolatry, smashed the two 
tables of stone. Why ? He would not deliver the holy 
laws to a people who were insulting God. This smash¬ 
ing was a demonstration of Moses’ jealously for his 
God. After this I can see him striding down to the 
place of this “ball” or “hugging.” The round dance 
of the present day is but a repetition of those lasciv¬ 
ious plays, and with his ax or hatchet he hacked up 
that malicious property, shaped into a golden calf. 
This did not belong to Moses. It was very valuable 


THE LIFE-OF CARRY A. NATION. 


231 


but he smashed it and ground it to powder and then 
to further humiliate these rebels, he made them drink 
the dust mixed with water, then to absolutely destroy 
and stamp with a vengeance this insult to God, he di¬ 
vided the people and those who were “on the Lord’s 
side” fought with these rebels and slew (smashed) 
three thousand men. In one of the apocryphal books 
of the Catholic Bible we have the story of the holy wo¬ 
man Judeth who cut off the head of Hollifernese to 
save God’s people. Esther the gentile loving queen 
had the wicked sons of Haman hanged. Our suprem- 
est idea of justice is a reward for the good and a pun¬ 
ishment for the wicked. We amputate the arm to save 
the body. David says: “I will not know a wicked per¬ 
son ; he that telleth lies shall not dwell in my sight.” 
(Ps. 101:4.) 

The devil has his agents in the churches, and among 
those who are doing his work the best, are a class of 
professors who testify that you must not speak ill of 
any one, not even the devil. They are the “non-resis- 
tives.” The devil is delighted to be respected, and not 
fought. He gets his work in just as he wants to and 
he can imitate true conversion, if he can place in the 
church those who hinder a warfare against sin. Paul 
said: “I tell you even weeping they are enemies of the 
cross of Christ.” (Phil. 3:18.) They are the devils in 
light. “But there must needs be heresies among you 
that they who are approved may be manifest.” Per¬ 
sons often propose to do something. I may not see the 
advisability, but because there is action in it, I never 
object. Oh! for somebody to “do with their might 
what their hands find to do.” (Eccles. 9:10.) “Well 


232 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


done” is the best commendation. Faith is like the 
wind, we cannot see it, but by the quantity of motion 
and commotion. There are workers, “jerkers” and 
“shirkersbut through much tribulation and tempta¬ 
tion must we enter into the kingdom of heaven. The 
counterfeit proves the genuine dollar; counterfeits are 
not counterfeited. So hypocrites prove the genuine 
Christians. If there were not a genuine there would 
not be a hypocrite. Our mothers and grandmothers 
who went into saloons praying and spilling the pois¬ 
oned slop of these houses of crime and tears were 
blessed in their deeds. Oh! that the W. C. T. U. 
would do as they did, what a reform would take place. 
I love the organization of mothers. I love their holy 
impulses, but I am heart-sick at their conventionality, 
their red tape. This organization could put out of ex¬ 
istence every drinking hell in the United States if they 
would demand it and use the power they have even 
without the ballot. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


IN NEBRASKA.-WHAT I DID WITH THE FIRST MONEY 

I GAVE TO THE LORD.-AT CONEY ISLAND.-WHAT I 

SAID OF MR. MCKINLEY.-IN CALIFORNIA.-“CRIBS” 

AT LOS ANGELES.-ARREST IN SAN FRANCISCO.-CON¬ 
DEMNED BY SOME MINISTERS.-WHISKEY AND TO¬ 

BACCO ADVERTISEMENTS. 

When I began lecturing I tried to get into churches, 
but only a few would open to me. I had many induce¬ 
ments financially to go on the stage, but I refused to 
do so for sometime. Like a little child I have had to 
sit alone, creep and walk. I paid my fines by monthly 
installments and in December of 1902, I settled with 
the court at Topeka for the “Malicious destruction of 
property,” when, in fact, it was the “Destruction of 
malicious property.” 

In the spring of 1902, I went to Nebraska, under 
the management of Mrs. M. A. S. Monegan. She had 
also made dates for J. G. Woolley and other prominent 
prohibition lecturers. She was a thorough prohibi¬ 
tionist and by conversing with her I for the first time 
found the remedy for the licensed saloon. This is 
“National Prohibition.” 

I held a debate in Lincoln with Bixbee, of the Jour¬ 
nal a rank republican, who used only ridicule and 
satire, for he had no argument of course. I lectured 
for and with the “Red Ribbon Alliance” there, who 
were so faithfully working and praying for the aboli¬ 
tion of the saloon. The spring election in Lincoln was 


234 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


for prohibition, but lost by sixty votes. William Jen¬ 
nings Bryan lives there and if he, the man who poses 
as a friend of the people, had opened his mouth against 
the saloon he could have made this great cause more 
than the sixty votes. From that time forth I knew 
Bryan was for Bryan and what Bryan could get for 
Bryan. 

T lectured at the parks and chautauquas in the sum¬ 
mer and at fairs in the fall, and at the end of the year of 
1902, I had the sum of five thousand dollars which I 
used to build a mission on Central Ave., Kansas City, 
Kansas. In that vicinity were several dives and I told 
those poor criminals that we would soon run them out. 
I had my brother, Campbell Moore, to manage the 
erection of this brick building. The liquor men tried 
to buy the ground to hinder the work, but at last the 
building was finished. I was offered seventy-five dol¬ 
lars rent for the hall but refused it. Then I went to 
the Salvation Army barracks in Kansas City, Mo., and 
offered to give it to them free of rent if they would 
start a mission. They did not see their way clear to 
accept it. My brother told me of a property that 
would suit me better for the purpose of a “Home for 
Drunkards’ Wives and Mothers,” which I was trying 
to arrive at through the mission. I went to see this 
property, and found it to be about two acres, with a 
twenty room brick house and a good brick stable on 
it, nice drives and forest trees, and while it is in the 
city, it is on a high elevation and as much retired from 
the dust and crowd as in the country. Mr. Simpson, 
the owner, sent me ten dollars while I was in jail at 
Wichita, and he was anxious to let me have this home 


NOLDS AVENUE, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS. I PAID $7,500 FOR THIS PLACE AND DEEDED IT TO THE 
CHARITIES OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS TO BE USED FOREVER AS A HOME FOR THE 

DESTITUTE WIVES, MOTHERS AND CHILDREN OF DRUNKARDS. 




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23 G 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


of his that he had improved himself. I purchased this 
with the money I got from the other place, paying him 
five thousand five hundred dollars, owing the rest. 
This place is situated on Reynolds and Grandview 
avenues. It was not possible for me to begin this en¬ 
terprise myself, and in speaking to Myron A. Water¬ 
man, of the Savings Bank of Kansas City, Kansas, he 
suggested that the “Associated Charities” of Kansas 
City, Kansas, would put it to the use I intended. I 
liked the idea. The society became incorporated so 
they could receive the deed, which was a trust, for 
should the property be used for other than what it was 
given for, it will revert to its former owner. 

The society took possession in December, 1903, and 
at this writing, February, 1904, it is full, the Home of 
many poor and destitute, who now have a good shelter, 
warmth and light free. They are expected to make 
their own living. Mr. Simpson gave forty dollars to 
furnish one room. The local W. C. T. U. have furn¬ 
ished their room and have two women the wives of 
drunkards in it. I here make a plea of help to enlarge 
this Home. As stated there are two acres of ground 
and one who would give money to this would fulfill 
the command to feed the hungry and clothe the naked; 
these are the orphans and the widows; every dollar 
will be put in the bank of Heaven. 

My motive for doing this was twofold. I wanted to 
furnish a home for these, the innocent results of the 
saloon, whose sad condition is beyond words to de¬ 
scribe. The people burden themselves with taxes to 
build jails, penitentiaries, alms houses, insane asylums, 
and reformatories to care for the guilty results of the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


237 


saloon. They pay millions to prosecute these crim¬ 
inals, the result of the saloon, but no one has ever 
thought of a building, or shelter for these women who 
are worse than widows, who are free from any fault 
in this matter, but are the greatest sufferers. 

I have been asked by my friends not to call it a 
'‘Home for Drunkards’ Wives and Mothers,” for it 
would be a reflection on the inmates. Not at all. The 
condemnation is on the party which makes a demand 
for such a home, by voting for saloons. The ques¬ 
tion, “Why?” will arise in the minds of all who see on 
the arch over the entrance to this place, “Home for 
Drunkards’ Wives and Mothers.” Why? “Because 
of the saloon. Let us smash the saloon and not these 
women’s homes and hearts.” Miss Edith Short is the 
secretary and is at the home all the time, and she is 
the right woman in the right place. 

There are many persons who would like to donate 
to such a place. We are waiting for funds to enlarge 
the place, making rooms or flats for these dear ones. 
A letter directed to “Drunkards’ Wives Home,” Kan¬ 
sas City, Kansas, will 'reach the place, for there is no 
other of the kind in the world. It was such a relief 
to me when I saw that what means I could control was 
used in a manner God would bless, and it was a great 
source of joy to me to do something for this class. I 
have been a drunkard’s wife myself and I know the 
desolation of heart they have. This is a worse sorrow 
than to have one’s husband die. A wife always feels 
that she might have done something to cause her hus¬ 
band to drink or to quit. 1 believe that some men have 
been led to drink by women, but it is a cowardly resort, 


238 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


or excuse, and the man who would make this as an 
excuse is as bad as the woman who caused him to 
drink, if not worse. The thief, the murderer, or any 
other class of criminals could just as well blame others 
for their own wrong doings. 

When I was at Coney Island, I was asked, what I 
thought of William McKinley’s administration? I 
said: “I was glad when McKinley was elected for I 
had heard that he was opposed to the liquor traffic. 
I did not know then that he rented his wife’s property 
in Canton, Ohio for saloon purposes, and after his elec¬ 
tion he had been a constant disappointment to me; that 
he was the Brewers’ president and did their bidding; 
that we as W. C. T. U. workers, sent petitions, thou¬ 
sands of them to Mr. McKinley to have him refuse to 
let the canteen run. That we were willing to give our 
boys to fight the battles of this nation, to die in a for¬ 
eign land, but we were not willing that a murderer 
should follow them from their home shores to kill their 
bodies and souls.” This was said at the time that he 
was thought to be convalescent from his death-wound. 
I said: *T had no tears for McKinley, neither have I 
any for his assassin. That no one’s life was safe with 
such a murderer at large.” This roused hisses; some 
left the hall and there was a murmer of confusion. 
One man threw a wad of paper at me, but I said: “My 
loyality to the homes of America demand that I de¬ 
nounce such a president and his crowd.” It was a 
common thing to be hissed. Once I spoke in Sioux 
City, Iowa, in the church where the martyred Had¬ 
dock preached. The crowd was so large, the church 
was filled and emptied three times. I had cheers and 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


239 


hisses at the same time. At the first meeting I was 
talking at the top of my voice, the audience was clap¬ 
ping and hissing and a good evangelistic brother by 
my side kept pounding his fist of one hand into the 
palm of the other and shouting: “She is right! She 
is right!” That was a great meeting, and I shall never 
forget it, neither will anyone who was there. I spoke 
three times to audiences that night. I have been 
hissed, and after giving the people time to think, have 
been applauded by the same parties. “Oh, fools and 
slow of heart to understand,” Jesus said. (Luke 24: 
25.) 

Murat Halstead, who wrote the book called, “Our 
Martyred President or the Illustrious Life of William 
McKinley,” wrote some positive falsehoods concern¬ 
ing me. This Halstead has always been a defender 
of anarchy or the licensed saloon. 

William McKinley was no martyr. He was mur¬ 
dered by a man who was the result of a saloon and 
could not tell why he murdered the President. 

I could tell of many amusing incidents. Indeed I 
could fill a book of interesting anecdotes. In the sum¬ 
mer of 1902, while traveling among the Thousand 
Islands of the St. Lawrence, I met a woman on the 
boat who wore a very low cut dress, with a very long 
train. Her face was painted, she wore flashy jewelry, 
was as much exposure of person as she dared. She 
came to me in an affected manner, and handed me a 
roll saying: “I am a temperance lecturer, here is one 
of my bills.” 

I replied: “If you are such, you had better make a 
practical application of temperance, and cover your- 


240 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


self up.” The change of her countenance was instan¬ 
taneous and she with a queer almost startled look said: 
“You go to Hell.” 

Once in Elmira, N. Y. the streets were so crowded 
that we had to leave the Salvation Army Hall. I 
climbed in a farmer’s two horse wagon. He came out 
of a saloon and gathered up the reins and laid the whip 
to his horses, which were caught so as to let me out. 

Mr. Furlong, my manager, had a keen sense of the 
ridiculous and would let me alone when I started out. 
He said he knew I could take care of myself. Often 
when I would rise to speak to the thousands in the 
parks, there would be yells and groans, and a manager 
at Youngstown, Ohio, said to Mr. Furlong: “She will 
not get a chance to speak.” Mr. Furlong said: “You 
watch how she will handle them.” I would always 
quiet them for a time at least. Once they were deter¬ 
mined not to let me talk. I at last went to one side of 
the stage and began talking very explanatory to some 
parties in front. The rest wanted to hear, so they 
were quiet. Then I gave them the hot-shots of truth. 
I always invited interruptions by questions. I had no 
set speech and these questions would bring out what 
the crowd wanted to hear. I like especially the ques¬ 
tions from those who oppose me. I have had men to 
shake their fists at me saying: “You are an anarchist 
and ought to be in the lunatic asylum.” One agent of 
a brewer in Hartford, Connecticut, kept on disturbing 
the meeting; at last he said: “Why did Christ make 
wine ?” I said: “The wine that He made did not rot. 
His was the unfermented juice of the grape. God 
made healthly fruit and grain. The devil rots them 


15 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


241 


and makes alcohol, which rots the brain, rots the body 
and rots the soul, and that is what is the matter with 
you.” 

When I first began my lectures I was not taken ser¬ 
iously by the people. They did not see the great prin¬ 
ciple back of the work. My manager said: “We must 
make all the dates this year, for next year it will not 
be so easy.” I said: “You will find it easier, for I will 
be more popular.” He shook his head, but sure enough 
it was easier. We could not fill the dates, and now the 
calls are more and more all over the country. 

In the winter and spring of 1903, I was in Cali¬ 
fornia. I was employed by the theatrical manager of 
the “Chutes.” Beer was sold at this resort. Some 
W. C. T. U/s were very much horrified that I would 
go to such a place. Mrs. Hester T. Griffith, the presi¬ 
dent of the Federation of Unions in Los Angeles, came 
to see me. She had been a staunch friend of mine 
from the first and she went with me to the “Chutes” 
and introduced me. This she did time and again say¬ 
ing: “If she had the opportunity to speak at the 
“Chutes” she would do as Carry Nation does.” This 
woman was a blessing to me. She helped me to see 
that the stage was a mission field. I was severely criti¬ 
cised bv the newspapers, and especially by some of the 
ministers. One from Rockford, Illinois, a Rev. Dr. 
Van Horn, wrote a very slanderous article which I 
heard of through my friends there. I was arrested in 
Los Angeles for some advertising my manager did 
which was contrary to a city ordinance. 

In Los Angeles I saw what was called the “Cribs,” 
one of the most disgraceful conditions. No one stayed 


242 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


there during the day; they were there just for the 
night only. These poor degraded girls would pay two 
dollars a night to the owners. I said to the women: 
“These city officials are at the bottom of this. Let us 
go to the Chief of Police/’ whose name was Yelton. 
He would not talk to me at first. He said: “If we 
close these places, these degraded girls will be over the 
town,” when in fact the girls were in town during the 
day and only stay there at night. I have seen so much 
of the corruption of the officials that when conditions 
are bad in any place I know it to be their fault. 

We went as a band of missionaries to these dens of 
vice. At first an officer would go before us and have 
the girls pull their blinds down to prevent us from see¬ 
ing or speaking to them. We found hundreds of them 
who could not speak the English language, they had 
been brought over by procurers for the purpose of 
swelling the ranks of this vice. Mrs. Charlton Ed- 
holm who wrote “Traffic in Girls,” was there helping 
to rid the city of this disgrace. Her book should be 
in the hands of every girl in the world. This grand 
woman has devoted her life work to the rescue of girls. 
She is in Oakland, California, where she has a “Rescue 
Home.” Anyone can get the book by writing her. I 
also met Mrs. Sobieski, wife of Col. John Sobieski. 
Sister Sobieski is one who never tires in the work for 
God. She is a terror to evil doers. God bless these 
women for their zeal. I found some of the most ag¬ 
gressive Christian W. C. T. U. women I have ever 
seen in Los Angeles, California. I am glad to say that 
in less than a year from the time I was there the 
“Cribs” were closed. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. -NATION. 


243 


I was arrested in San Francisco and spent most of 
the night in jail. I was put in for destroying a bottle 
of whiskey in this way: A certain saloon-keeper had 
just finished a very fine “criminal factory” and he 
wanted to advertise it. He sent me word by my man¬ 
ager to call and smash this place up. He had a fine 
mirror he paid one hundred and fifty dollars for, that 
he wanted me to smash. I knew that all he wanted 
was an advertisement, but I went, not saying what I 
would do. He had reporters and the house was crowd¬ 
ed. I got up on a table to make a speech, which, I did 
in this fashion: “This man has opened a place to drug 
and rob poor victims. There are no clothes, no food, 
no books here, nothing but what degrades men and 
women.” Some one handed me a large empty bottle. 
I said: ‘No I want a bottle that has some of that fiery 
poison in it.” I was given a quart of whiskey. I held 
it up and said: “None but God knows the sorrows in 
this bottle, the headaches, the heartaches, the desola¬ 
tion, but there is no blessing or happiness connected 
with it. I will do with this what ought to be done with 
all its kind.” So I threw it as quickly as I could be¬ 
hind the bar on the floor. It fell in with some others 
and made a great smash. I said: “The man wished me 
to make a hole in that large mirror so that curiosity 
would draw others into this snare to catch our boys.” 
I gave the best rebuke for the occasion I could, then 
I went to my hotel, retired, and about twelve o’clock 
an officer came to my door. I dressed and went with 
him to the station. I stayed there until nearly three 
in the morning. While there I saw one continual 
stream of poor, drunken wretches, men and women. 


244 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


brought in. My manager came and took me out on 
bail. Next morning I appeared in court, was my own 
lawyer. The case was put off two days, then I was 
discharged. The saloon keeper withdrew the charge. 
This was done to advertise this man but the way that 
I advertise has never done the whiskey business any 
good. 

There is a great art in advertising. Jacob was the 
first one I read of in the Bible who was aware of this 
art and science, when he placed the rods before the 
cattle. The eye is the window by which no business 
in America is so much advertised as the whiskey and 
tobacco business. Both are destructive in their influ¬ 
ence on the morals and the health of the people. We 
would be better off without these articles. The inter¬ 
est of these manufactories are built up in proportion 
as they can catch the unwary who see these signs that 
are suggestive. One of the most notorious signs is 
“Wilson’s Whiskey That’s All.” Yes that is all it 
takes to ruin your homes. That is all it takes to break 
a mother’s heart. That is all that is needed to build 
houses of prostitution, and that is all that it requires 
to break up every impulse of justice, love and happi¬ 
ness. That is all that it takes to fill hell. How my 
heart is stirred when I see this, “Remember me, Oh, 
my God!” 

Whiskey or tobacco never introduce their products 
by reason or arguments, they never appeal to thought, 
but suggestion or temptation, and as oft as the eye is 
lifted, as one walks up the streets of our cities there 
are hundreds of advertisements to meet the gaze; most 
every one has a false basis. For instance there is a 


THE LIP'E OF CARRY A. NATION. 


245 


sign: “Old Crow Whiskey.” This is slandering the 
crow, for there is not a crow or vulture that will use 
a drop of this slop. There is: “Chew Bull-dog Twist,” 
and “Bull Durham Tobacco.” There is not a dog or 
bull that uses tobacco. There is the, “Royal Bengal 
Tiger Cigarettes.” This is taking advantage of these 
animals because they cannot defend themselves. There 
is the “Robert Burns and Tom Moore cigars.” There 
was not a cigar in England when Burns or Tom Moore 
lived. I have seen a life-size picture of Abraham Lin¬ 
coln advertising cigars, when Lincoln was a teetotaler 
from cigars or any intoxicating drink. He promised 
his mother that he would never use them and kept his 
promise to his death. This is slandering the dead. I 
never remember seeing the “Grant Cigar.” The name 
not used, so I think, yet he died with tobacco cancer. 
It is said that Mr. McKinley would have recovered, 
but his blood was bad from nicotine. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


MY VISIT TO WASHINGTON, D. C.-ARRESTED IN THE 

SENATE CHAMBER.-TAKEN OUT BY OFFICERS.-THE 

VICES OF COLLEGES, ESPECIALLY YALE.—ROOSEVELT A 
DIVE-KEEPER. 

In February of 1904, I went to Washington, pur¬ 
posely to call on Mr. Roosevelt, the President. I was 
refused an audience. While in the office of Secretary 
Loeb, a delegation of politicians, republicans and dem¬ 
ocrats, came out of the president’s apartments bowing 
and smiling at one another as if they were the best of- 
friends. 

I asked them what difference there was in their 
parties? They looked silly and said nothing. Mr. 
Loeb said: “We do not wish any questions on the sub¬ 
ject.” I said: “It is a civil question, it ought to have 
a civil answer.” Mr. Loeb called to a policeman to 
take me out. I said: “If I was a brewer or distiller I 
could have an interview. As a representative mother, 

I ought to be received.” I wished to ask him why he 
practiced the vice of smoking cigarettes ? Why he has 
never said a word against the licensed saloon when it 
is the greatest question that ever confronted the homes 
of America?” Why he had a coat of arms on his flag? 
Why he brought a dive into Kansas?” I was taken 
outside in a very orderly manner by two policemen, 
something unusual, for I am hustled and dragged gen¬ 
erally. 

Then I went to the Capitol. I called to see Senator 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


247 


Cockrell from Missouri. I asked him his opinion on 
the liquor traffic. He got excited immediately. He 
said: “I want no one to mention that subject to me.” 
I said: “It is strange to me that you do not want to 
converse on the greatest subject before the American 
people.” He became so indignant that he stamped his 
foot and threatened to have me put out of the build¬ 
ing. I also became indignant, and stamped my foot, 
and said : “Down with your treason ! Down with your 
saloons! You are sent here to represent the interests 
of the mothers and their children, and you insult a 
representative mother because you are representing the 
interests of the brewers and distillers.” During this 
speech of mine he was making tracks up the corridor. 
Then I went to the House of Representatives and the 
Senate Chamber. My “spirit was stirred within me,” 
(Acts 17:16,) to see at the head of the American peo¬ 
ple the bitterest enemies to the defense of the homes 
of America, the very thing our forefathers intended 
to secure to this people. I wanted to do some “Hatch- 
etation,” that not being possible, I thought I would do 
some agitation. I took a position in a lobby near a 
door. I rose to my feet, and with a volume of voice 
that was distinctly heard all over the halls I cried 
aloud: “Treason, anarchy and conspiracy! Discuss 
these!” I knew that I would be put out, but I selected 
these three words to call the attention to the fact that 
these were more necessary to be discussed than any 
other subjects. And these were the very ones they 
were avoiding most. I was taken down to. the police 
station. Court was in session. I had my trial and was 
fined twenty-five dollars. I made my own plea before 


248 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Judge Kimball, as I had no lawyer. I justified myself 
upon the same principle that a man would to give a 
fire alarm. The Judge said that he sympathized with 
my cause but he gave me the maximum fine. I have 
had just such sympathy as this from all republican 
judges. The kind of sympathy that a cat has for a 
mouse when she crushes its bones between her teeth. 

I am a loyal American. We want true Americans 
to represent the principles of Americans. I had my 
prejudice increased against Mr. Roosevelt when I 
heard of the “coat of arms” on his flag, in violation of 
every principle of American citizenship. We have no 
“my lords” in this country. The people rule here and 
not the president, for he is the servant. The brewers 
of America are mostly German and Dutch, and of 
course the Dutch president is their friend. Roosevelt 
is a Mason, a Red Man and also a member of the Or¬ 
der of Eagles, the strongest liquor organization in the 
United States. Oh, shade of American heroes look 
down and condemn this outrage to your ashes. I have 
it from three eye witnesses that Roosevelt smokes and 
did smoke cigarettes. His secretary, Mr. Loeb, denied 
this to Mrs. Dye Ellis, but Mr. Roosevelt dare not 
deny it. The minister for Mr. McKinley denied he 
rented his property for saloon purposes, but the Chi¬ 
cago New Voice proved he did. I am so true a Daugh¬ 
ter of the Revolution that such a president as Theo¬ 
dore Roosevelt is an insult to my sires. And last 
March when he came to Topeka, Kansas, he outraged 
every loyal citizen of the state by bringing into it a 
dive in his private car and all who wished an intoxicat¬ 
ing drink could get it by tipping the waiter. Let 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


249 


Roosevelt’s ministers deny this for him also. He 
ought to have been arrested as any other dive-keeper. 

This President who enjoys the sport of killing in¬ 
nocent animals, this man who costs the people more 
than any other president, who has so little regard for 
the people’s treasury that he spent a quarter of a mil¬ 
lion to look at the American fleet and took the treas¬ 
ured relics of the people and sold them to a Junk shop. 
Vandalism! 


MY VISIT TO YALE UNIVERSITY. 

I have been to all the principal Universities of the 
United States. At Cambridge, where Harvard is sit¬ 
uated, there are no saloons allowed, but in Ann Arbor 
the places are thick where manhood is drugged and 
destroyed. Also Yale, the latter being the worst I 
have ever seen. I will insert two letters which I got 
on March 1st, 1904, and have received several more of 
the same kind from the students: 

“Dear Mrs. Nation:—As an ardent prohibitionist 
and an enemy of the liquor traffic, I feel obliged to 
bring to your notice some of the things that are served 
to the young men at Yale Dining Hall by the college 
authorities.” (In this letter were several bills of fare.) 
“You will see how many of the dishes are served with 
intoxicating liquors as sauces. Yale is supposed to be 
a Christian College, but to give these poisons by con¬ 
sent of the college authorities is nothing more or less 
than starting them on the road to hell! Please give 
this matter your earnest attention and see if you can 
not stamp this serpent out.” 

“Dear Mrs. Nation:—Although it pains me deeply, 


250 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


I feel it my duty to inform you that even after your 
soul-stirring address of warning and reproof, the Devil 
still grins at Yale Dining Hall. The enclosed menus 
tell the story. The hateful practice of serving intox¬ 
icating liquors has not ceased. Capt. Smoke holds 
open wide the gates of hell. Oh, this is terrible! Sa¬ 
tan loves to shoot at brightest marks. 

“Here are eight hundred shining young souls, the 
cream of the nation’s manhood, on the broad road 
which leadeth to destruction. God help us. Assist us, 
Mrs. Nation; aid us ; pray for us. Let the world know 
of this awful condition and rouse the public indigna¬ 
tion until it has ceased. Publicity will do it. Let the 
world know that Yale is being made a training school 
for Drunkards, and Capt. Smoke will never dare to 
serve liquors again, alone but friend of the tem¬ 
perance cause/'’ 

I spoke to the students at the entrance of their din¬ 
ing hall. They spoke up and told me that “Cham¬ 
pagne” was served on their ham three times a week. 
They gave me the menus, and on them were: “Claret 
Wine Punch,” “Cherry Wine Sauce,” “Apple Dump¬ 
ling and Brandy Sauce,” “Roast Ham and Champagne 
Sauce,” and “Wine Jelly.” While I was talking to the 
young men, many were smoking cigarettes in the en¬ 
trance of the dining hall, which was contrary to rules, 
but Capt. Smoke only laughed at this practice of vice. 
There should be an investigation, and that quick. Stu¬ 
dents are crying for it. Faculties should demand of 
students a high standard. At Yale the students are 
.pleading for a moral faculty. 

I then went to the Y. M. C. A., and found on the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


251 


first floor, billiard tables, cigars and cigarettes; they 
also have a “smoking room.” A poor mother wrote 
to a friend of mine in New Haven to please use her 
influence to save the boys. That her boy wrote her 
that the brandy was so strong on the food that it made 
his head dizzy. One poor boy said that he did not wish 
such food but that he had no other to eat. Students 
are crying out against this outrage. While I was 
there a “Smoker” was advertised to be held by the law 
students. A student told me that a beer wagon was 
engaged by the Seniors of Shefield School of Yale for 
their wrestling match procession. These Seniors upon 
application can get a tin cup and help themselves to 
this rotten slop that will destroy their willpower and 
make them slaves of the drink habit. What can be 
expected of Freshmen if Seniors set such an example? 
This will show what it leads to. 

The demoralization of the students is talked of uni¬ 
versally. They have what is called Freshman “Games,” 
which are as follows: “Upon appointed evenings they 
will meet at a select hotel (saloon). They take their 
places at the table, then, each one at the table, “sets 
them up” for all the rest. If there are twelve at the 
table each one gets twelve drinks. You can imagine 
the “games” after such a debauch. I saw some young 
men there from Kansas and I asked them: “Why do 
vou come to Yale?” I would never send a boy of 
mine to Yale. If I had a hundred I would send them 
to a state, that made such things a crime. Here is a 
college that has received denations of millions lately, 
that young men may be prepared and fitted for sta¬ 
tions of moral, mental and physical eminence and it is 


252 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


a school of vice to a great extent. The distillers and 
brewers dominate the republican party and they are 
the controlling party at Yale and will desolate and en¬ 
slave our darling boys. 1 went to see the president of 
Yale, Professor Hadley, and I asked him about these 
things. He said he thought the intoxicants were “fruit 
juices.” I spoke of the smoking. He said he used to 
think it was wrong but when he went to Germany he 
saw they smoked there. He was taught it was wrong 
in America, but when he saw it in Germany he thought 
better of the vice and is now teaching it to our boys. 
People ought to demand another faculty or refuse to 
patronize such a school. 

While I was at Harvard I saw Professors smoking 
cigarettes. Parents should demand that the teachers 
in these colleges and schools should be free from the 
practice of the vices of drinking intoxicating liquors 
and the use of tobacco. I hope we will have some gen¬ 
erous hearted man who will donate to build a college 
in Kansas with the capacity of Yale. What a shame 
to have professors in our schools aping the vices of 
foreigners. 

These same professors are the followers of Huxley 
and Herbert Spencer, who did far more to make the 
world ignorant than wise. Huxley saw in man only 
the elements of a weed. Herbert Spencer would have 
destroyed all family life. Such men as these degrade 
thought and see only the animal. “For after that in 
the wisdom of man, the world by wisdom knew not. 
Yet it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to 
confound the wise,” (as a fool would determine wis¬ 
dom.) (I Cor. 1:18.) 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


253 


The great controversy between Yale and Harvard 
now, is, which shall excel in brute force, and foot-ball 
seems to be the test. Colleges were founded for the 
purpose of educating the young, on moral, intellectual, 
and spiritual lines. The test of these is oratory, de¬ 
bate, intellectual contests. It used to be conceded, that 
the mind made the man, now the forces of the mule 
and ox are preferred. 

Taft, of the noted ‘Taft’ Cigar has position of lec¬ 
turer, and the inference is, there will be more vile 
cigars smoked than ever, under such patronage. 

Oh, mothers and fathers! Rise in protest against 
these outrages. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

PROHIBITION OR ABOLITION.-WHAT IT MEANS. 

God is a politician; so is the devil. God’s politics 
are to protect and defend mankind, bringing to them 
the highest good and finally heaven. The devil’s pol¬ 
itics are to deceive, degrade and to make miserable, 
finally ending in hell. The Bible fully explains this. 
The two kinds of seed started out from Abel and Cain, 
then Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob. There are 
but these two kinds of people. God’s crowd and the 
Devil’s crowd. The first law given and broken in 
Eden was a prohibition law. God said: “Thou shalt 
not.” The devil tempted and persuaded the first pair 
to disobey. He did it by deceiving the woman. The 
fact of redemption now is to bring them back to the 
law of God. What is law? God says that sin is a 
transgression of law. Blackstone says: “Law com¬ 
mands that which is right and prohibits that which is 
wrong.” Law is one, as truth is one. It is not pos¬ 
sible to make a bad law. If it is bad, is is not a law. 
We have bad statutes. Law is always right. Nothing 
is wrong that is legal, and wrong may be licensed, but 
never legalized. I find lawyers who do not under¬ 
stand this. I often hear the term “legalized saloon.” 
When I was passing the building of the supreme court 
in New York City, on Madison Avenue, I read an in¬ 
scription on one of the marble statutes representing a 
judge with a book on either side of the door: “Every 
law not based on wisdom is a menace to the state.” 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


255 


This is a false, misleading sentence for all law is wis¬ 
dom. It might have read: “All statutes not based on 
wisdom, are a menace to the state.” Then at the base 
of the statue of a soldier, on the other side of the en¬ 
trance, was this statement: “We do not use force until 
good laws are defied.” Which ought to read: “We 
do not use force until laws are defied.” Such ideas 
as these are corrupting courts, and biasing the public 
mind, and the injury is more than apparent to the ob¬ 
server. If law is not a standard, what standard can 
we have? We must have one. We repeat again: 
“Law commands that which is right and prohibits that 
which is wrong.” Any statute that does this is lawful. 
Any that does not, is anarchy. 

God is truly the author of law. The theocratic form 
of government was perfect and the only perfect gov¬ 
ernment that ever existed, we need no other statutes 
than those that God gave. He said: “We must not 
kill a bird sitting on her young; must not see our 
enemy’s beast fall under his burden and not help him 
rise.” And the refinement of mercy was taught in the 
statute that said. “You must not kill the mother and 
lamb in one day; must not seethe a kid in its mother’s 
milk; must not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the 
corn.” The use, and the only use, of law is to pre¬ 
vent and punish for sin. All law has a penalty for 
those who violate it. Governments that are the great¬ 
est blessing to its citizens are those who can prohibit, 
or abolish the most sin or crime. Crime is not pre¬ 
vented by toleration, but by prohibition. Nine of the 
ten commandments are prohibitive and begin with, 
“Thou shalt not.” 


25G 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


The success of life, the formation of character, is in 
proportion to the courage one has to say to one’s own- 
self: ‘'Thou shalt not.” (Exod. 20.) It is not the man 
or woman who has no temptation to sin, who has the 
strong character, but the man or woman who has the 
desire but will not yield to sin. Some people ask: Why 
did God make the Devil ? the Devil is God’s fire. Like 
an alchemist God is purifying souls. The Devil is an 
agent in salvation. Every Devil in hell is harnessed 
up to push every saint into heaven. 

Those who are counted worthy to enter into the de¬ 
lights of that heavenly land are those who have had 
their “fiery trials,” (I Pet. 4:12) tried and made white. 
Man would have no credit and could not hear, “Good 
and faithful servant” if he had no temptations to do 
otherwise, man would be but a mere machine. 

God has never used for his work, any but those who 
prohibit evil. The Pilgrim Fathers were forced from 
the mother country because this principle of prohibi¬ 
tion burned in their hearts. When England would op¬ 
pose the colonies, it was prohibition that smashed the 
tea, over in Boston harbor. George Washington was 
put at the head of the colonial armies that prohibited, 
by much bloodshed and suffering, the oppression from 
the mother country. Our Civil War was the result of 
the principle to abolish or prohibit the slavery of the 
colored race. Now we have a worse slavery than Eng¬ 
land threatened us with or the poor blacks suffered at 
the hands of their taskmasters. This slavery of soul 
and body, is one that leads to eternal death. The 
forces of darkness and death are with those who are 
willing to be led captive by the Devil at his will, and 


16 • 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


257 


to lead others under this grievous yoke of those who 
are trying to perpetuate the cause of evil. 

There are men who desire to he loyal, who are vot¬ 
ing for license or in license parties, because they do 
not stop to think. The people are generally right on 
all questions. They go wrong more for lack of 
thought, than for lack of heart. Edmund Burke, the 
greatest English statesman, said: “The people have as 
good government as they deserve.” Because the peo¬ 
ple have always had the power, and in America espe¬ 
cially, they are sovereign. The president and all others 
in office, are but servants of the people. In another 
chapter I have given what the supreme court says 
about the impossibility of licensing wrong by law, or 
according to law. 

Hear the language of the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all 
men are created free and equal, that they are endowed 
by their creator, with certain inalienable rights, that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap¬ 
piness, that to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted among men deriving their just powers from 
the consent of the governed.” The licensing of intox¬ 
icating drink results in suicide -and murder, whether 
or not the saloon-keeper or state be held responsible. 
Some one is. Who ? The man who consents to or aids 
by his vote is most criminal. It is said that drink kills 
a man a minute. Suppose that we had a war that kill¬ 
ed a man every five minutes. Would there not be 
howling for an end of bloodshed. This is more than 
ten times worse, for the soul is more valuable than the 
body. 


258 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Freedom or liberty in animals is following instinct 
and underlying appetite. Not so with man; to the re¬ 
verse. It is the freedom of conscience and will, from 
the bondage of ignorance of the person, the gratifica¬ 
tion of appetite and passion. The body is a good ser¬ 
vant, but a tryant when it is master. A man must be 
master or slave. One must first, like Daniel, “Purpose 
in his heart that he will not defile himself.” (Dan. 1: 
8.) Liberty or freedom is only attained by prohibition 
of opportunity to do wrong to ourselves or allow any 
one else to do so. Citizenship not only requires one 
to obey law but must see that others do so also. 

The principles of government are founded on liberty 
and self-control. Drunkenness is a loss of self-con¬ 
trol. Anything that animalizes men, is a menace to 
the life of the state and prevents the purpose of gov¬ 
ernment. Thus replacing the weapon of destruction 
in the hands of its foes and the danger is great, be¬ 
cause so many citizens are under the domination of 
their own will and passion. This class is being multi¬ 
plied by this licensed crime. These willing classes are 
an integral part of the nation. By licensing rum, we 
are fostering a power that is increasing the weakness, 
and preventing the self-control of its citizens. This is 
conspiracy, treason, black as night. Some plead the 
revenue of our wealth. Our wealth is in our citizens. 
The state cannot add to its treasury at the expense of 
its manhood without punishing herself. The state 
must guard the character of its citizens. It can not 
make them honest, but it must punish dishonesty; can¬ 
not make them humane, but it must prohibit an act of 
inhumanity; and should oppose and forbid every li- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


259 


cense that man would desire or try to obtain that which 
would allow such gratification of the animal over the 
moral. 

The nation is what its homes are. The family first, 
then the nation. Nothing can injure an individual or 
a family that is not an injury to the state. The fight 
for firesides means a fight for our national life. Our 
revolutionary sires fought for this. This is the fight 
that Carry A. Nation is making. It is the heart of 
love, liberty and peace. Some of these thoughts I have 
copied from an article I read on a few leaves of a 
torn pamphlet, no name. But the writer has the true 
meaning of government. I am a prohibitionist be¬ 
cause I am a Christian. I want to get to heaven. None 
but prohibitionists ever do. Hell is made for those 
who take license to sin. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

DR. MCFARLAND'S PROTEST.-KICKED AND KNOCKED 

DOWN BY CHAPMAN OF BANGOR HOUSE.-MEDDLING 

WITH THE DEVIL.-TIMELY WARNING TO OUR BOYS 

AND GIRLS.-BRUBAKER OF PEORIA.-WITCHCRAFT.- 

ARRESTED AND PUT IN JAIL IN PHILADELPHIA.- 

THIRD TIME IN JAIL IN PITTSBURG. 

The determination of that rum anarchy in Topeka, 
Kansas, was such that three consecutive times I was 
put in jail because I went into these vile dens. Dr. 
McFarland, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal 
church of Topeka, came down at my trial to see what 
the trouble was. The police, when put on the witness 
stand, swore positive falsehoods and Judge Magaw, 
the republican police judge, appointed there by the 
democratic Mayor, Parker, that these two might unite 
their force of corruption, knew that these police were 
swearing falsehood but were winking at the crime. I 
saw that the Doctor was getting ready to offer his pro¬ 
test when the time came, and it came when I was sen¬ 
tenced to jail for contempt of court, because I insisted 
on asking what kind of business these dive-keepers 
were carrying on, which the judge wanted to keep out 
of the witnesses’ mouths. Dr. McFarland arose and 
said: “I suppose you want to fine me judge. I say 
this is an infernal outrage,” repeating it the second 
time. Judge Magaw said: “Yes I will fine you twenty- 
five dollars.” “You may make it a hundred.” “Well, 
I will make it a hundred,” said Judge Magaw. I was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


261 


taken to jail. Dr. McFarland was not, but walked out 
and said it was worth a hundred dollars to tell them 
what he thought of such travesty on justice. Dr. Mc¬ 
Farland had plenty of friends who offered to pay the 
amount, but I believe he paid it himself. Then he be¬ 
gan some investigation of the corruption at the police 
station. He preached a sermon telling of this. It was 
published. I was in jail next door to the room in 
which the mayor, Parker, and the police gathered to 
discuss a suit for slander against Dr. McFarland, but 
it was only a bluff. Before this all night long there 
was loud talking and swearing in the room under 
mine, as if around a card table. After Dr. McFar¬ 
land’s sermon I heard no more of it. There were sev¬ 
eral of these poor degraded girls in jail. I knew of 
actions and words that were not decent between the 
officers and these girls. This exposure of Dr. Mc¬ 
Farland’s was very salutary. Before that, officers 
would come into my room without knocking and ad¬ 
dress me in a rough manner. After this they knocked 
at the door and were respectful and even kind. The 
Reverend Doctor did a great work by that sermon 
which was to the point and effective. 

I went to Bangor, Maine, to lecture once. I stopped 
at the Bangor House, run by Chapman. Roosevelt 
had stopped there just two weeks before. I heard this 
hotel had one of those traps, called “dives.” When 
I went into the dining-room I asked a young lady wait¬ 
ing on me, if she could get me a bottle of beer? She 
said they kept it and that she would ask the head 
waiter to get it for me. She spoke to him. He left 
the dining-room and in a few minutes this man Chap- 


262 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


man came out of the winding way to his dive; the 
proprietor rushed up to me in a drunken rage. He 
threw me against one of the pillars, then literally 
knocked me out into the hall in the presence of the 
guests, perhaps a hundred; then he kept knocking me 
down every time I rose to my feet He would not 
allow me to get my things. I was invited to go home 
with a prohibitionist, Dr. Marshall. This Chapman 
was a noted dive-keeper, a rummy, and ran a repre¬ 
sentative rum-soaked republican hotel. He was angry, 
because I dared to expose him, in his sneaking way of 
drugging and robbing his guests. It was marvelous 
what rages these law-breakers used to have when I 
came around at first. It is not so now. Their bands 
have been smashed and they are not as bold; and more 
marvelous that I was not seriously hurt. 

Once in Nebraska City, Nebraska, I was knocked in 
the temple by a saloon-keeper. I reeled and fell and 
while I knew he struck me with his clenched fists as 
hard as he could, so it seemed to me, I did not have 
a bruise. 

I always prayed to God to take care of me, but to 
lead me into these tumults to rouse the people to think 
and to talk. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE GRAVEYARD ASSOCIATION OF 
MEDICINE LODGE. 

I used to ride out north of Medicine Lodge past the 
graveyard. It was situated on an elevated place, 
barren of trees, for trees could not well grow where 
it was so dry. Graveyards are not pleasant places at 
best, but to see one barren of trees or flowers, just the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


263 


graves, the white marble, the sunshine, rain and prairie 
grass, in sight of the pleasant yards and homes of the 
living, I feel a sense of reproach, as if the dead were 
complaining of this neglect. The only ground Abra¬ 
ham ever bought was a piece of ground to bury his 
dead and it had trees on it. I wanted to see a better 
condition of things. I knew this neglect was because 
no one would make a move. I felt I was not the one, 
but I wrote an article for the papers, “Index and Cres¬ 
cent,” of Medicine Lodge, and I took it to a widow, 
Mrs. Young, who had recently lost a husband who was 
very dear to her. I told her she was the one to organ¬ 
ize a graveyard association. That this letter would 
call the ladies together. After making a few changes 
in the language she published the letter, and the ladies 
met, organized, and in a few months all was changed. 
One will rarely find a more attractive resting place for 
our beloved dead than in the cemetery of Medicine 
Lodge. I could not have effected what Mrs. Young 
did, but there are more ways of doing things than one, 
and when people say: “I can never carry out any 
plans,” I know they have not tact or perseverance. 

MEDDLING WITH THE DEVIL. 

I never saw anything that needed a rebuke, or ex¬ 
hortation, or warning, but that I felt it was my place 
to meddle with it. I have been called a “meddler.” 
Yes I say: “It is my place to meddle with the devil’s 
business. Jesus meddled with the law-breakers in the 
temple.” 

I will give you a few facts to prove what I mean 
and hope it will inspire my readers to do likewise. 


264 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


What injures one is the interest of all. We are per¬ 
sonally responsible for all wrong that we neglect to 
make right, when it is in our power to do it. If any¬ 
thing injures my neighbor it injures me. If my neigh¬ 
bor is blessed so am I. 

A friend who lived a few miles in the country came 
to my house in Medicine Lodge, threw her arms 
around my neck and said: “Oh, Sister Nation, Mattie 
has gone to Wichita for a bad purpose. I am almost 
wild; can’t you help me ? She is in love with Will, and 
he does not care for her, but he has gotten her into 
trouble and does not intend to marry her.” She told 
me that Will wrote her a note to go to the Goodyear 
Hotel. I wrote to Mattie and told her if she became 
the murderer of her child that a fearful judgment was 
in store for her. I also wrote to Will and told him to 
marry Mattie or I would expose him. Will’s father 
got the letter, as it was directed to Medicine Lodge. 
His father came down to see me, weeping as if his 
heart would break; told me of the trouble this boy had 
given him; said that Will was preparing to marry an¬ 
other girl and could not marry Mattie, but that he had 
forwarded the letter to Will, as he had gone to Wich¬ 
ita. Will and Mattie got their letters at the same time 
and were filled with terror. Both came back to Med¬ 
icine Lodge and in a few months poor Mattie was the 
mother of a little girl. Her mother sent for me. I 
stayed until the little angel died. From the time 
Mattie looked on the face of the little one she loved it 
with all the intensity of a true mother and grieved so 
when it died. In a few hours I went to the graveyard 
with the little coffin. This Will or his father never 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


265 


spoke to me again. Will married the other girl. In 
a few years father and son were both killed. The sis¬ 
ter of Will, who also treated me coldly, wrote me a 
letter after this and told me to tell Mattie it would 
have been a blessing if Will had married her. That 
he loved her the best and that she personally felt quite 
differently toward me. 

TIMELY WARNING TO OUR GIRLS AND BOYS. 

I was going down to a neighbor’s one dark night. 
I heard voices, as if some people were sitting by the 
roadside. I went into the neighbor’s house and got a 
lantern. I came up to them and found them to be 
a young man of Medicine Lodge and a young girl 
visiting there. I warned them, telling the young boy 
to act towards a girl as he would toward his sister. 
I told the girl that ruin would be her fate; and she 
hid her face and soon both of them ran down the alley. 
I knew they would think that I would expose them, 
so I wrote a letter to the young man and told him the 
injustice to himself and the girl, that would follow 
such actions, told him that no one would hear it from 
me. That it was not my desire to expose them only 
to warn and prevent trouble. That young man is in 
Medicine Lodge now and is a good friend of mine. 

I often see actions, especially in the young, that I 
know will end in heartaches and woes. I get them 
out of hearing and speak to them. So often in travel¬ 
ing I see silly girls being led astray by men who for 
a vile purpose will fawn and flatter. I never let such 
a thing pass my eye without a little wholesome con¬ 
demnation: “Thou shall not in any wise suffer sin 
upon thy brother but shall rebuke him.” (Lev. 19:17.) 


26 G 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


SOME OF MY TRIALS WITH MR. BRUBAKER OF PEORIA. 

When I visited Chicago for the first time after the 
smashing a Mr. Brubaker called to see me. He was 
from Peoria and was hired by the Peoria Journal men 
to get me to edit that paper for one day. The arrange¬ 
ments were satisfactory to both parties. I went to 
Peoria. Mr. Brubaker met me, took me to a hotel run 
by a woman who owned one or two saloons, but had 
none in the hotel she kept. I had not one line of copy 
for the paper but I got up at four in the morning and 
wrote continuously that day. I know God helped me. 
Mr. Brubaker took the copy. I never saw any of the 
Journal men until after the paper was out. I went to 
see them, told them that only a small part of my copy 
that I wrote was in the paper. They said that several 
times they asked for my copy but Mr. Brubaker gave 
them his own. So he destroyed a great deal of my 
copy, supplying only what he wanted put in. 

I spoke in the Opera House and this Mr. Brubaker 
was to give me fifty dollars for my lecture that night. 
After I had spoken I was asked to go into a noted sa¬ 
loon, Pete Weise’s place. Mr. Brubaker said: “If you 
go I will not give you your fifty dollars,” as the con¬ 
tract said I was to speak at no other place in the city. 
But as I had already spoken for him I did not feel 
bound. This man was posing as a prohibitionist, but 
he was as loyal to the cause as Judas was to Jesus. I 
went to Pete Weise’s place, one of the most expensive 
dance halls I was ever in. I spoke for the hundreds 
of poor, drugged and depraved men and women. 
There was a large picture or rather statuary of naked 
women among trees which I said must be smashed, 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


267 


Mr. Weise treated me very kindly and said: “I will 
have that boarded up,” and so next day he did. 

This Mr. Brubaker would not pay me a cent for my 
lecture and tried to garnishee the $100 the Journal was 
to pay me, and had it not been for a stroke of policy 
on the part of the Journal he would have taken every 
cent from me and left me to pay my expenses there 
and back. Jesus said: “Beware of wolves in sheep’s 
clothing.” In a month from this time the saloon 
keeper sent me $50. The prostitute loved more than 
Simon. 

I saw in Peoria the largest distillery in the world. 
Not one of the hands are allowed to drink what they 
make. What would you think of a dry goods concern 
that would not allow its employes to use what they 
make? Mr. William McKinley was entertained here 
by Joe Greenhut, president of the “Whiskey Trust.” 

I was in Peoria when the prohibitionists held a con¬ 
vention there and was astonished that they would put 
up at a saloon or a hotel that run one. I never eat or 
sleep in one. My conscience will not allow me. I 
never saw so many ragged children or dirty streets, 
as in Peoria. 


WITCHCRAFT. 

I heard so much of the “Weltmer treatment” for 
disease. I sent twenty-five dollars for a “mail course” 
so I could see for myself. This man Weltmer had a 
large institution in Nevada, Missouri, for humbugging 
the people. I always like to investigate these things 
myself, as I did Dowie, who I found out to be a false 
prophet. This Weltmer’s papers were a complete 


268 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


treatise on witchcraft, spiritualism and hypnotism. I 
exposed this in every way I could. The Bible fully 
prepares people to expect such “lying wonders and 
miracles.” The “Christian Science” is a witchcraft, 
but very subtile. The most dangerous counterfeit bill 
is nearest like the genuine. 

IN JAIL IN PHILADELPHIA. 

I went to Philadelphia to lecture between the acts 
of “The Heart of a Hero.” There was a very vile 
saloon kept by a Mr. Donoghue. This man stationed 
police to arrest me if I went in his place. In going 
home from the theatre at night I would look in and 
call to the poor victims not to be drugged and robbed. 
This man had five or six bartenders handing out this 
poisonous drink to our boys, our mothers’ treasures. 
He has amassed a fortune at this vile business and 
tries to pose as respectable, because he has a lot of this 
blood money. I was passing there on the 14th of Jan¬ 
uary, 1904. I just opened the door when a two legged 
beer keg in the form of a policeman grabbed me and 
almost dragged me over the streets to the station. I 
was locked in and I spent the night in jail. Next 
morning I was discharged. 

The next day when I went to the Pennsylvania rail¬ 
way depot to take the train a little boy came to me and 
asked for a hatchet, the depot police shook the little 
fellow and hurled him away. The little boy began to 
cry and I said to the police:'“Let that child alone, he 
is doing no harm to any one.” He told me in a very 
angry tone to mind my business, and would not let the 
little boy take the hatchet from me. After this I was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


269 


sitting on the bench waiting for my train, and a per¬ 
son came to me saying: ‘‘Let me see one of your hatch¬ 
ets.” I opened my grip to show the little souvenirs, 
several came up to look at them. This same police¬ 
man was watching his chance to arrest me. He came 
up and said: “You will have to stop that.” I said: “I 
am making no trouble, I have a right to meet people 
and talk to them and show my souvenirs too. You 
are the only one, making a disturbance here. Two 
policemen came up and caught me one by each arm, 
dragging me through the depot and down the elevator 
and I was carried to the police station in a “black 
maria.” This was done for spite and to show his au¬ 
thority. I spent a night in prison, and next morning 
I was fined ten dollars. I was my own lawyer. The 
magistrate before whom I was tried would not compel 
the officer to answer the questions I asked him. 

THIRD TIME IN JAIL IN PITTSBURG. . 

In a few days I returned to Pittsburg and was in¬ 
vited by the Providence Mission to go out on the 
streets. Quite a crowd gathered and while I was 
speaking, I was arrested again by an officer who re¬ 
fused to tell me what I was arrested for. I was taken 
to the police headquarters. The kind hearted matron 
wanted to give me a pillow and some bedding for I 
had nothing but a hard board in the cell. The Chief 
of Police forbade the matron to give me anything to 
make myself comfortable. He said: “That woman is 
giving us a great deal of trouble and we want to get 
rid of her.” The matron came to me when no one 
was looking and advised me to give a bond of thirteen 


270 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


dollars and get out so that I might have a bed. I did 
this and went to my boarding house. I secured the 
services of a lawyer, Mr. Buckley. I was fined ten 
dollars which was afterwards remitted. This repub¬ 
lican, rum-soaked police force make it a point to arrest 
me on every pretext. They have told me that if I win 
they will lose their jobs. Eighteen months before this 
I had been put in jail at Pittsburg, making three times 
in all, for doing my duty in that city. 


CHAPTER XX. 

WHY I WENT ON THE STAGE.-THE VICE OF TOBACCO. 

I got hundreds of calls to go on the stage before I 
did. Gradually I got the light. 

This is the largest missionary field in the world. No 
one ever got a call or was ever allowed to go there 
with a Bible but Carry Nation. That door never was 
opened to anyone but me. The hatchet opened it. 
God has given it to me. My managers have said: 
“This is a variety house at, Watsons and the Unique, 
of Brooklyn, or the Boston on the Bowery. You do 
not wish to go there.” Yes, those need me more than 
the rest; never refuse a call even from the lowest. If 
Jesus ate with publicans and sinners I can talk to 
them. Francis Willard said: “The pulpit and stage 
must be taken for God.” 



THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


271 


Persons often say: “Why do you take the money of 
such?” I say: “I can do more good with the money 
than they can.” After the battle the victor takes the 
spoils and is entitled to them. I will take all I can get 
in a good way. Money is a blessing, if used as such. 
I go on the stage to do good, I take their money for 
the same reason. The curse of it is when it is desired 
above the good of humanity. It is not the tainted 
money but the tainted motive. I am fishing. I go 
where the fish are, for they do not come to me. I 
thank God for this unspeakable gift. I take my Bible 
before every audience. I show them this hatchet, that 
destroys or smashes everything bad and builds up 
everything that is good. I tell them of their loving 
Deliverer who came to break every yoke and set the 
Captive free. When I look upon the hundreds of faces 
before me, I say: “Oh, these poor aching hearts! God 
give me a loving message.” Words can not tell of the 
love I would like to bestow upon them. I often weep. 
“Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have 
gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
her wings.” (Matt. 23:37.) Then I say: “There is 
one that loves more than you. He can make all things 
right.” 

There are but a handful comparatively that try to 
obey the commands of Jesus. “A remnant shall be 
saved.” Caleb and Joshua were only two in six hun¬ 
dred thousand, but they alone of this great multitude, 
lived to see and inherit the promised land. Christ 
said: “Go out into the highways and hedges and com¬ 
pel them to come in that my home may be full.” (Luke 
14:23.) Where are the highways and hedges? They 


272 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


are places where men and women are the most lost. 
How can they be compelled to come in? Love is the 
only compelling influence. If no one goes with love, 
how are these lost ones to know they are loved. Christ 
brought love down to us; He came down to do it. We 
must take His love to the low places—“Condescend to 
men of low estate.” (Rom. 12 :1G.) I find the theatre 
stocked with boys of our country. They are not found 
in churches. I have not sought to get into the so- 
called “respectable set,” but I have told my managers 
to get me into the worst class. They need me most. 
They are as brands snatched from the burning. 

I am not only a reformer on the line of the licensed 
or unlicensed saloon, but on other evils. I believe that, 
on the whole, tobacco has done more harm than in¬ 
toxicating drinks. The tobacco habit is followed by 
thirst for drink. The face of the smoker has lost the 
scintillations of intellect and soul it would have had if 
not marred by this vice. The odor of his person is 
vile, his blood is poisoned, his intellect is dulled. 

A smoker is never a healthy man, either in body or 
mind, for nicotine is a poison. Nicotine poisons the 
blood, dulls the brain, and is the cause of disease. The 
lungs of the tobacco user are black from poison, his 
heart action is weak, and the worst thing to contem¬ 
plate in the whole matter is that these tobacco users 
transmit nervous diseases, epilepsy, weakened consti¬ 
tutions, depraved appetites and deformities of all 
kinds to their offspring. 

Deterioration of the race is upon us, and unless 
there is some reform, idiocy, imbecility and extinction 
will be the legacy of the future generations. 


17 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


273 


A man that uses tobacco cannot have the nice moral 
perceptions on any point that he should have. I find 
him to be dulled and sluggish. The Bible says: “If 
thine eye be single, thy whole body is full of light. If 
thine eye be evil, thy whole body is full of darkness.” 
(Matt. 6:22.) The use of tobacco is a vice, and to 
the extent of that one vice, it degrades a man. It opens 
the gate for other vices, for it is the gratification for 
one form of lust. It is a filthy habit, and I care not 
how often ftie smoker changes his clothes or washes 
his person, he is filthy. The stench from his breath 
indicates that his body repudiates such uncleanliness. 

The tobacco user can never be the father of a 
healthy child. Therefore he is dangerous for a woman 
to have as a husband. If I were a young woman, I 
would say to the men who use tobacco and who would 
wish to converse with me: “Use the telephone; come 
no closer!” I would as soon kiss a spittoon as to kiss 
such a mouth. When a man begins to smoke he is 
taking his first lessons in drink. The two habits travel 
together. 

A man never can attain his majority and use to¬ 
bacco. He never can realize his full capabilities or 
his possibilities. He can always attain to a better 
standard without nicotine. 

There is one objection that, from a business stand¬ 
point, every business man ought to make to tobacco. 
When he employs a man that uses tobacco he gets only 
a certain per cent, of his employee’s time and of his 
brain, because the employee must serve his tobacco 
master part of his time and when he is not smoking 
his mind is preoccupied because he is thinking of 


274 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


smoking. Consequently, he cannot concentrate his 
mind upon his business. 

I have heard poor, silly, empty-headed women- say 
that.it is manly to smoke. If it is manly to smoke, 
why,,isn’t it womanly to smoke? The tobacco habit 
is the reverse of manhood and destroys manhood, for 
manhood means strength of character, not the grati¬ 
fication of lust. 

If tobacco is good for men, it is also good for wo¬ 
men. I do not suppose that one could find a man so 
degraded as to walk down the street with a woman 
who had a cigarette or cigar in her mouth. Women 
should make the. same standard for men that men do 
for women. Many women would smoke in public if 
men did not denounce it. MEN WOULD QUIT 
SMOKING IN PUBLIC IF WOMEN DENOUNC¬ 
ED IT. 

I have heard some women say, “I like the smell of 
a good cigar.” I never smelled a good one. It is not 
made. They are like snakes; they are all bad. I 
never knew of but one good use that tobacco was put 
to, and that was to kill lice on cows and plants. My 
father used it for that purpose on his farm. It does 
kill that kind of germs. 

The evil has become so common that whenever you 
go abroad you are compelled to breathe the contents 
of somebody else’s mouth. It would be rude of me to 
take a piece of fruit out of my mouth and throw it into 
somebody else’s mouth, but anyone may throw his 
poisonous breath and smoke into my mouth and I have 
no defense. A man has no more right to poison the 
air I breathe than the water I drink. Spitting is for- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


275 


bidden in the cars. Smoking is a great deal worse, 
but the reason why it is not denounced is that people 
can get a revenue from men’s smoking, while they 
have to clean up after spitters, and there is no money 
in that. 

I can prevent a man spitting into my mouth, but I 
can not avoid his smoke. A man seems to think that 
he is free to project his stinking breath in my face on 
the street, in hotels, in cars, coaches—indeed, in every 
public place. Now I would as soon smell a skunk. 
There is some excuse for a skunk; he can’t help being 
one. But men have become so rank in their persons 
from this poisonous odor that they almost knock me 
down as they pass me. And when I say, “Man, don’t 
throw that awful stench in my face,” he answers, “You 
get away.” I reply, “If I smelled as badly as you do, 
I would be the one to get away.” 

Oh, the vile cigarette! What smell can be worse 
and more poisonous? I feel outraged at being com¬ 
pelled to smell this poison on the street. I have the 
right to take cigars and cigarettes from men’s mouths 
in self-defense, and they ought not to be allowed to 
injure themselves. “Liberty is the largest privilege to 
do that which is right, and the smallest to do that 
which is wrong.” Governments are organized to take 
care of the governed. I believe it ought to be a crime 
to manufacture, barter, sell or give away cigars, cigar¬ 
ettes and tobacco in any form. 

Dr. Jay W. Seaver, associated physical director of 
Yale University, says: “Among college students, the 
gain of growth, in general, is 12 per cent, greater 
among those who do not use tobacco than those who 


27 6 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


smoke. It has also been proven by tests in the labor¬ 
atory that the nicotine in a fairly mild cigar will re¬ 
duce a man’s muscular power from 25 to 40 per cent.” 

Were it not for the tobacco habit, we would need no 
smoking cars. Suppose women had a vice that re¬ 
quired them a separate apartment from the men when 
they travel. Even in the cars where the women travel 
there are rooms fixed up in luxuriant style while poor 
mothers with their babies have to sit upright and smell 
this rank and poisonous odor. But of course women 
have no redress, or are made to think they have none. 
Shame to you men, a decent dog will not bite a female, 
while in men the impulse of protecting their females is 
lower than in a decent beast. 

While I was in New York City last week, April the 
2nd, a Mr. Thomas McGuire, treasurer of the Four¬ 
teenth Avenue Theatre had his tongue cut out to pre¬ 
vent tobacco cancer from spreading. This was from 
smoking cigars. General Grant’s tongue rotted from 
the same cause. 

Here is one of the best poems on the vice I ever 
read. Author unknown. 

HE SMOKES. 

“In the office, in the parlor; 

On the sidewalk, on the street; 

In the faces of the passers, 

In the eyes of those he meets, 

In the vestibule, the depot, * 

At the theatre or ball ; 

E’en at funerals and weddings, 

And at christenings and all. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


277 


“Signs may threaten, men may warn him; 
Babies cry and women coax; 

But he cares not one iota, 

For he calmly smokes and smokes. 

Oh, he cares not whom he strangles, 

Vexes, puts to flight, provokes; 

And although they squirm and fidget, 

Fie just smokes and smokes and smokes. 

“Not a place is sacred to him; 

Churchyards, where the flowers bloom; 
Gardens, drives, in fact the world is 
Just one mighty smoking room, 

And when once he quits this mundane sphere, 
And takes his outward flight, 

From the world he made a hades, 

Day he’s turned to murky night. 

“When he reaches his destination, 

Finds ’tis not a dream or hoax, 

And the judge deals out his sentence, 

Then I’ll wager that he smokes; 

Oh, he’ll care then whom he has vexed, 

And their mercy he’ll invoke; 

But although he squirms and fidgets, 

They’ll just let him smoke and smoke and 
smoke.” 


CHAPTER XXI. 


TRIP ON FALL RIVER STEAMBOAT, FROM BOSTON TO NEW 
YORK.-OFFICERS, TRIED TO LOCK ME IN MY STATE¬ 
ROOM.-SEQUEL SATISFACTORY, MADE PLEASANT TRIP 

AND MANY FRIENDS. 

In the. summer of 1903, I took a Fall River boat 
from Boston to New York. These boats are said to 
be the finest in the world. There was quite a commo¬ 
tion among the several hundred passengers when I 
went aboard, and the door was blocked in the women’s 
cabin to get a look at the “Crazy Smasher from Kan¬ 
sas.” 

Men were smoking pipes, cigars and cigarettes. I 
'Said: “Men, get away from the door with your smoke, 
you make me sick.” They paid no attention to me. I 
went to the clerk and complained of being compelled to 
submit to the outrage of being subject to the poison¬ 
ous fumes, in such a manner as to attract the attention 
of all to the matter. The clerk told me to be quiet and 
sit down. I said: “I will, if I have a decent place to 
stay, why do you not have these men get away from 
the door?” But they were men, we were only women 
and children. Oh, the outrage on poor mothers in 
delicate condition, to be subject to such treatment by 
selfish, dirty men. I believe every one who smokes in 
a public place should be fined. If men will smoke let 
it be where others can not be annoyed or injured. I 
have no right to bring a skunk into any public place. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


279 


People should be taught that others have the right to 
object to anything that is wrong. 

While I persisted in my request to the men to leave 
the door, I was shown my stateroom, to which there 
were two doors, one leading from the corridor and the 
other opening out next the water. The captain, ac¬ 
companied by the first and second mate appeared at 
the former, saying: “Madam, you are to keep your 
room this evening.’’ I replied, while eating a sand¬ 
wich: “I will do nothing of the sort.” He said: “I 
will see that you do.” At the same time telling the 
officers to lock the doors. I said: “You can lock the 
doors to restrain me of my liberty, but having paid 
my fare for the service of this company, I will tie up 
this boat, when we reach New York, and you will learn 
that I can turn a lock as well as yourself. I saw his 
countenance change. Mr. Furlong, my manager, who 
was on the boat, and almost shaking with fear, began 
to make excuses for me, but when I said, “Never mind, 
Mr. Furlong, I can attend to this little captain and 
myself too.” He said no more. The three men walk¬ 
ed out of the corridor, shutting the door after them, 
but did not lock it, in a few moments, they returned 
and opened both doors for fear I would think they 
were locked. This was about supper time. When I 
had finished my lunch, and had put on a clean tie and 
fixed my hair, I took from my valise a lot of little 
hatchets and put them in a little leather case I carry 
by a strap over my shoulder. Thus equipped I entered 
the ladies cabin, where there were perhaps fifty people 
sitting. When I went in, they began to look at one 
another, some smiled, I knew they had heard of the 


280 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


captain’s trying to prevent my coming out. Taking 
my seat on a sofa in the middle of the room, I was 
listening to the lovely string band when some one came 
up and began to talk to me. After a while I was quite 
surrounded and the cabin soon became crowded. Some 
one asked to see a little hatchet, so I opened my satchel 
to show them. One of the officers who had come to 
the stateroom with the captain, had been standing near 
the stairway, and when he saw the people begin to 
press' round me to get the hatchets, he came up saying: 
“Madam, you are not allowed to sell these here.” I 
replied: “You sell wine, beer, whiskey, tobacco, cigar¬ 
ettes and anything that will drug these people. Now 
these are my own little souvenirs, and they will adver¬ 
tise my cause, help me, and be a little keep sake from 
the hand that raised the hatchet, so I claim the right 
to sell them, where you have no right to sell bad 
things.” He went up to see the captain, who said: “I 
am too busy to fool with that woman.” So he came 
down, and called up Mr. Furlong, asking him to com¬ 
pel me to stop selling hatchets, but Mr. Furlong told 
him he could not prevent Mrs. Nation doing anything 
she made up her mind to do. We had a nice time. I 
repeated poetry on the evils of drink and smoking, all 
were happy, and at ten o’clock, I bade good-night to 
many friends who regarded me not as the wild vicious 
woman, but as one who meant well. 

Next morning when we went ashore in New York, 
and were identifying our baggage, a small man passed, 
Mr. Furlong remarked in an undertone, “Our cap¬ 
tain.” He had changed his uniform to go ashore, and 
I had not recognized him. I extended my hand which 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


281 


he took, and I said, “Captain, I know you were told 
I was a nuisance.” “Yes, they said you would raise 
the devil, but if anyone thinks you are a fool they are 
very much mistaken.” We parted in a very pleasant 
humor. Thus it is, my life is a constant contention, 
but there have been many laughable circumstances and 
none hurt. I can truly say that there is no ill will in 
my heart toward a creature God has made. It is a 
hatred for the enemies of mankind. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

TRIP TO CANADA, CORDIAL RECEPTION.-RETURN TO CHI¬ 
CAGO TO FILL ENGAGEMENT.-SECOND VISIT TO CAN¬ 
ADA.-TRIP TO MARITIME PROVINCES.-VISIT CLUB IN 

CHARLOTTETOWN.-PREJUDICE AGAINST ME OWING 

TO MALICIOUS REPORTS.-SPOKE IN PARLIAMENT IN 

FREDERICTON.-VISIT TO SIDNEY.-SCOTT ACT.-—MY 

ARREST AND RELEASE.-EPISODE IN JAIL. 

Having a spare month in May of 1904 I made a 
trip to Canada, and never was so cordially received in 
my life, selling all the hatchets I had in three meet¬ 
ings. 

I returned to fill a Chicago engagement of six weeks 
which was made by my manager, with Mr. House¬ 
man, one of the Editors of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, 
who owned a theatre with which a museum was con- 



282 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


nected. Realizing that this would provide an excuse 
for the papers to lie about me, I wrote my manager, 
if possible, to cancel the engagement. I was, how¬ 
ever, persuaded to stay one week, with the result, that 
it was published all over the country that Carry A. 
Nation was in a Museum getting $300 a week just to 
be looked at, when in fact, I spoke in the theatre, not 
in the museum.' I would not object to going into a 
museum or any place to bring my cause before the peo¬ 
ple, but resented the idea of being placed on exhibi¬ 
tion. 

As I had promised to return to Canada, I did so in 
the month of June, visiting the Maritime Provinces, 
where I was very much delighted with the people, find¬ 
ing in Prince Edward’s Island the most intelligent and 
moral people, as a body, that I have ever met. 

That Island has a Prohibition Law similar to Kan¬ 
sas, but the premier, Peters, told the former premier, 
Mr. Farguason, that the Club in Charlottetown, the 
Capitol, had to be an exception to the prohibitive 
amendment or he would vote against and ruin it. This 
condition is similar in our own government—conspir¬ 
acy and treason. I visited this club, strange that I 
should get in, God opened the way. It was fitted up 
like other drinking clubs, where men congregate to 
act in a manner and talk of subjects they would be 
ashamed that their wives should know of. The back 
room was stacked with empty bottles and imported li¬ 
quors of different brands. I went up into the parlor 
about nine o’clock in the morning, where I met one of 
these beer-swelled outlaws, I asked him, “Wil you 
answer some questions about this place.” His pomp- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


283 


ous and indignant reply was, “No, I will do nothing 
of the kind.” I said: “I will tell you some things about 
it. You are a set of traitors, you pose as being the 
elite, but you are criminals. Shame on such vilainy.” 
He held his paper up before his face. I had the satis¬ 
faction of telling him the truth in plain language, such 
men are well dressed, gold fobbed, diamond studded 
rummies that are more hateful than those behind the 
prison bars. Their bodies are a reeking mass of cor¬ 
ruption. 

Prince Edward’s Island is a large farm, one hun¬ 
dred miles long, by forty broad. It can only be reach¬ 
ed by boat. A high grade of cheese is made and milk, 
butter, oats and turnips are raised there. Instead of 
weather-boarding the houses they have the sides shin¬ 
gled. They have nice, small, fat horses, which are fine 
travelers. 

On this, my second visit to Canada, the people did 
not receive me as cordially as before, owing to a re¬ 
port that I had been in a museum in Chicago on ex¬ 
hibition. In order to counteract this prejudice against 
me, I offered a reward of $50.00 for any one who had 
ever seen me in a musuem or on exhibition, which had 
the desired effect. There are rum bought papers in 
Canada as there are in the States. 

I was asked to speak in Parliament in Fredericton. 
There was a great laugh when I said that governments 
like fish, stink worse at the head. 

On my visit to Sydney, Cape Breton, I found that, 
although they have the Scott Act, which makes it a 
misdemeanor to sell intoxicants, there are dives there 


284 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


just as in Kansas, the officers and political wire pullers 
defending them in just the same way. 

I went into a vile den, the Belmont Hotel. There 
was a crowd gathered around the place. When I went 
out in front an officer came to me, saying: “You will 
have to get off the street, you are collecting a crowd.” 
I said, I am not disturbing anything, if you object to 
the crowd, disperse them, let me alone. He insisted, 
and so did I. He said nothing to the crowd no one 
was doing anything, but standing around when he 
walked up to me and arrested me in the King’s name— 
Two got on either side of me and carried me to jail. 
When I was there, I found a young boy of about 14 
or 15 years of age. I asked: “Why are you here?” 
He began to cry bitterly, said he was put in for calling 
names. “Oh, if I had a father or mother to help me 
out, but they are dead, and I have no friends.” “What 
is you fine?” I asked. “Only a dollar.” “My dear 
boy, I will do what mother would do, if she were here, 
kneel down here and let us pray. He did, weeping 
bitterly all the time. I asked God to make this a means 
of saving that dead mother’s precious one. I said to 
him: “Now my boy, mother would say: ‘My darling 
son, don’t use bad language. Be good and love God. 
Now I will pay your fine just as mother would do.” 
So I called the jailer, who seemed to be a kind man, 
and paid the dollar. The boy with his face glowing 
with happiness, fairly flew out. In a few minutes the 
door was opened, a friend went on my bond, and I left 
to fill my appointment. There were as many as twen¬ 
ty-five men who volunteered to testify to the unfair 
arrest. The case was tried the next day, and I was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


285 


acquitted, the judge saying that, “All Carry Nation 
wanted was advertising.” “Man’s inhumanity to wo¬ 
man.” I was glad to open the prison door to the boy, 
and give him advice at a time when he would take it, 
for he promised me to be a good boy and serve God. 
I expect God sent me there for that purpose. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

COWARDLY ASSAULT BY SALOON KEEPER, G. R. NEIGHBORS 

OF ELIZABETHTOWN, KY.-APATHY OF OFFICERS, BUT 

PEOPLE MUCH MOVED BY OUTRAGE, LECTURED AFTER¬ 
WARDS, THO’ VERY FAINT AND WEAK FROM LOSS OF 
BLOOD.-CIGARETTE SMOKING IN HIGH PLACES DIS¬ 

CUSSED WITH MISS GASTON, PRESIDENT NATIONAL 
ANTI-CIGARETTE LEAGUE. 

A saloon keeper, G. R. Neighbors, of Elizabethtown, 
Kentucky, struck me over the head with a chair, July 
23, 1904. In going up to the hall to fill an engagement. 
I passed this man and walking into his saloon, said: 
“Why are you in this business, drugging and robbing 
the people?” “Hush! You get out.” I replied; “Yes 
you want a respectable woman to get out, but you will 
make any woman’s boy a disgrace, you ought to be 
ashamed.” I then passed out going to the hall. After 
the lecture I passed by his place again. He was sit¬ 
ting in a chair in front of the saloon, and I said, “Are 



28G 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


you the man that runs this business ?” and in a moment 
with an oath he picked up the chair and with all his 
strength, sent it down with a crash on my head. I 
came near falling, caught myself, and he lifted the 
chair the second time, striking me over the back, the 
blood began to cover my face, and run down from a 
cut on my forehead. I cried out, “He has killed me.’" 
An officer caught the chair to prevent the third blow. 

There were two officers in the crowd. I cried, “Is 
there no one to arrest this man?” No one appeared 
to do it. He went back in his saloon. I to the hotel. 
Some one sent for a doctor who came and dressed the 
wound on my forehead, my left arm was badly bruised, 
also my back. Had it not been for my bonnet, I should 
have suffered more. This outrageous act roused the 
people. Indignant women and men came to see me, 
saying this outrage would not be tolerated. The Meth¬ 
odist minister especially was deeply moved. There 
were two officers who saw this outrage, but there was 
no arrest. 

Next morning, Mrs. Bettie James, came in. two 
miles from the country, and had a warrant sworn out 
against Neighbors, but the case was laid over to await 
the action of the grand jury, in November, saloon 
keepers going on his bond. 

I intended to go to Mammoth Cave, but remained 
over on account of trial, and spoke again that night. 
Elizabethtown is one of those bad rum towns in Ken¬ 
tucky, but there is a fine prohibition sentiment, and 
great indignation was felt and expressed that even a 
saloon-keeper could be so low and cowardly as to 
strike a woman, and still be tolerated. I was in bed 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


287 


most of the day and nearly fainted during the lecture, 
but I thanked God that I was counted worthy to suffer 
so that others need not. I felt some mother might re¬ 
ceive fewer blows, that if my head was bruised and 
bleeding it might prevent other hearts from being 
crushed and broken, ^souls from going to drunkards’ 
graves, and drunkards’ hells, and this outrage would 
reveal the enormous brutality of this curse; thus bring¬ 
ing a speedy remedy. 

In the spring of 1904, I was in the office of Miss 
Lucy Gaston, the National President of the Anti-Cig¬ 
arette League. I saw on the walls of her room Mr. 
Roosevelt’s picture. I said, “My dear Miss Lucy, why 
do you have that picture in here? Don’t you know he 
is a cigarette smoker?” She said, she did not know 
it. I said: “Let,me tear that up.” Did this man who 
is at the head of affairs in this nation ever say a word 
against this vice? Although he is sworn to protect 
from just such. This brave, good woman, whose 
heart, soul, and body is dedicated to saving the young 
men of our land did not seem to recognize the fact that 
Democrats and Republicans (so-called) were the head 
and front of all the corruption we have. At last, I 
said: “If you will write to Mr. Roosevelt and get his 
statement that he does not, nor ever did. smoke cigar¬ 
ettes I will give you $50 for your work, she said she 
would. She wrote to the President, got no response 
from him, but Mr. Loeb, his secretary wrote that the 
President, did not and never had used tobacco in any 
form. She sent this to me, of course I was not to be 
caught with such chaff. I wrote her so, telling her of 
the time when Mr. McKinley wished to deny the fact, 


288 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


that he rented his property in Canton, Ohio, for sa¬ 
loon purposes, his minister denied this, but the Chi¬ 
cago Voice proved that he did. I suppose Mr. Roose¬ 
velt got his minister to write what he dared not. I 
wrote her that old birds were not easily fooled with 
chaff, also stating, that if she would get a statement 
that Mr. Roosevelt was not a beer drinker, I would 
give her another $50.00. Of course she could not do 
this, but the Republican Press published all over the 
country that Miss Gaston got the evidence and I paid 
the $50.00, but not one word of this was true. 


18 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

SISTER LUCY WILHOITE’s VISION.-WRITES TO ME FOR 

CO-OPERATION IN MAKING RAID ON MAHAN'S WHOLE¬ 
SALE LIQUOR HOUSE.-HESITATE ON ACCOUNT PRESS¬ 
ING ENGAGEMENTS AHEAD.-ANSWERS THE CALL.- 

RAID SET FOR 29TH. -W. C. T. U. CONVENTION IN SES¬ 
SION.-FOUR SISTERS AND MYSELF START FROM M. E. 

CHURCH.-A CALL FOR THE POLICE REFORE WE COULD 

EFFECT AN ENTRANCE.-TAKEN TO JAIL IN HOODLUM 

WAGON.-UNHEALTHY CONDITION OF CELL.-IN JAIL 

FROM FRIDAY TO MONDAY.-GOOD OLD PENTECOSTAL 

TIME ON SUNDAY.-COUNTY JAIL MONDAY.-TRIAL 

WEDNESDAY.-JAIL SENTENCE AND FINES.-APPEAL 

TO DISTRICT COURT. 

In the Fall of 1904, I received a letter from Sister 
Lucy Wilhoite of Wichita, telling- me of a vision, 
which I will relate here in her own words: “During a 
severe illness, last July, the Lord appeared unto me and 
revealed many wonderful things concerning our work 
in which I have been engaged for seven years. Tem¬ 
perance and Prohibition. 

My life was despaired of by my friends and I knew 
I was very near the borderland, and as I lay on my bed 
of suffering in the still hour of mid-night, God showed 
me the awful desolation which our thirty eight saloons 
and five wholesale liquor houses were making in the 
homes of Wichita and surrounding country. The sight 
so overwhelmed me, I cried unto the Lord and said, 
'Oh my God! Have I done all I could during this life 


290 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


of mine to dam up this fearful tide? Then I said, 
show me Lord, what this means. Immediately a great 
cloud of human souls came rolling down a steep de¬ 
cline and as my eyes followed them, saw them rolling 
on and on until they finally fell into a pit from whence 
fire and smoke were ascending. Then my eyes were 
turned again up the ascent from whence the souls were 
coming. When, Lo! I saw the National Capitol, with 
its Senate and Congressmen. I saw the Legislative 
Halls, and our Educational Institutions. I saw our 
churches with their educated ministry, and their secret 
societies, our public libraries and reading rooms, our 
National, State and Local W. C. T. U’s., all of them 
right in the track of this awful tide of human souls, 
yet they still rolled on and on until they reached the 
pit. Then I cried again unto the Lord and said: “Oh, 
Why do you show me these horrible things, when I 
am on the brink of the grave?” And still the picture 
or vision remained before me, growing more and more 
vivid every moment until I struggled to my knees, and 
said, ‘Oh, God, if I can do anything to dam up this 
fearful tide, just heal this body, and let the healing be 
the seal that I can do something to help, and I shall 
do it if it costs my life.’ Then a deep calm and soul 
rest settled over me and I sank into a deep sleep, when 
I awoke I realized the pain was gone and also the 
fever. I lay there, looking up to God, and I said, ‘Now 
Lord, show me what you want me to do.’ Immediately 
like a great scroll reaching across the sky, these words 
appeared, written in letters of gold. “Spill it out!” 
Then he showed me the very place I was to attack Ma¬ 
han’s Wholesale Liquor House. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


291 


“For many weeks I pondered upon this vision and 
prayed about it most earnestly, that I might not be 
mistaken and know of a truth that it was God’s will. 
I never found any soul rest until I wrote to Mrs. Na¬ 
tion, and told her the time was ripe for God and that 
we must attack Mahan’s Wholesale Liquor House, that 
was helping to degrade so many women and debase so 
many men. This resulted in an attempt to carry out 
God’s purpose on Sept. 30, 1904. 

1 was true to the “Heavenly Vision,” which is only 
the beginning of the fulfillment, for there are yet 
many things to be spilled out, not only the liquor, but 
also the hypocrites in the church, and the false prophets 
with sin of every kind, and our lives also. 

The Wichita Eagle reporter, uttered a profound 
truth, whether he intended to or not, when he said, we 
walked into the court room like a poem, a sort of a 
‘Lead Kindly Light’ poem, for we were lead of God, 
who is the light of the world. And we intend to fol¬ 
low on until this vision is fully realized.” 

Yours for God’s love for Him and suffering human¬ 
ity, Mrs. Lucy Wilhoite.” 

I had dates ahead that I disliked to cancel, because 
of disappointing the people and entailing a great fin¬ 
ancial sacrifice. Sister Lydia Muntz, also wrote me 
to come to Wichita immediately. I knew it meant 
smashing and imprisonment, possibly, loss of life, for 
I wrote Sister Wilhoite, “I am coming to do all I can 
to destroy the works of the devil, and if need be to 
die.” At first, I told her to keep things quiet. Then 
I thought it best to give all an opportunity to have a 


292 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


part in this great work of saving life here and here¬ 
after, so I wrote a letter to the Topeka Journal mak¬ 
ing a call for helpers setting September 28th as the 
day. When I arrived in Topeka, I learned that the 
W. C. T. U. would be in convention session on that 
day in Wichita, and also that there was a carnival go¬ 
ing on in the place, and thought it providential to have 
a crowd. I arrived in Wichita the 28th, the raid was 
postponed until the 29th. I took hatchets with me and 
we also supplied ourselves with rocks, meeting at the 
M. E. church, where the W. C. T. U. Convention was 
being held. I announced to them what we intended 
doing and asked them to join us. Sister Lucy Wil- 
hoite, Myra McHenry, Miss Lydia Muntz and Miss 
Blanch Boies, started for Mahan’s wholesale liquor 
store. Three men were on the watch for us. We 
asked to go in to hold gospel services as was our in¬ 
tention before destroying this den of vice, for we want¬ 
ed God to save their souls, and to give us ability and 
opportunity to destroy this soul damning business. 
They refused to let us come near the door. I said: 
“Women, we will have to use our hatchets.” With this 
I threw a rock through the front, then we were all 
seized, and a call for the police was made. There was 
of course, a big crowd. Mrs. Mvra McHenry was in 
the hands of a ruffian who shook her almost to pieces. 
One raised a piece of gas pipe to strike her, but was 
prevented from doing so. We were hustled into the 
hoodlum wagon, and driven through the streets amid 
the yells, execrations and grimaces of the liquor ele¬ 
ment. I watched their faces and could see that Satan 
was roused in them beyond their control, making the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


293 


most diabolical faces sticking out their tongues! At 
what? Just five women, who were doing with their 
might what their hands found to do. Just five living 
hearts that dared to give their lives to save them. Just 
gray-haired women, mothers, and grandmothers, who, 
for love they could not contain, rushed in to save their 
loved ones, from ruin. 

There never was such a sight. Angels wept and 
devils yelled with diabolical glee. We were taken to 
Police Headquarters, that is, four of us, the Police had 
not taken Blanch Boies, who dodged them, and with 
her axe smashed out two windows, after which she 
went to Sister Wilhoite’s home, and would not have 
been arrested had she not called to see us next day, 
and giving her name was immedately arrested and 
shut in with us. Water was standing in the low places 
in the cell we occupied, caused by a leakage in the 
pipes, I don’t think this neglect was intentional, but it 
was none the less dangerous as it was below ground. 
The beds were shelves in the wall, very hard of course, 
but we might have had some degree of comfort if it 
had not been for the dirt and rats which seemed to de¬ 
light in having some one to run around and over. It 
was so ordered that there was a Bible in the crowd, 
and as we were not in stocks we had far more to re¬ 
joice over than Paul and Silas, holding a continuous 
praise and prayer service, reading and repeating the 
word of God. We were kept there from Friday till 
Monday morning without a charge against us. Sun¬ 
day morning we squeezed the juice out of some grapes, 
some kind friends had sent us, and reading for our les¬ 
son where Jesus washed the disciples feet and partook 


294 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


of the sacrament, Sister McHenry sprang to her feet 
after partaking of the emblems, said she saw the most 
beautiful cross on the wall, surrounded by a divine 
halo, exclaiming: “Now I know what it is to have a 
vision, I thought it might be imagination.” Our 
friends were not permitted to come into the jail or 
even to the door, so many of them came to thJfrailing 
on the outside, where some of the officials threfr water 
on them from the upper windows to keep them away. 
We were taken to the county jail on Monday and had 
a trial for malicious mischief on Wednesday. We 
plead our own cases, and never in the history of the 
world did a nation or people see mothers tried for try¬ 
ing to save their loved ones from the slaughter of a 
government whose business it is to protect women and 
their children. Tears were in the eyes of many when 
Sister Lucy Wilhoite and Sister McHenry told of their 
boys being led into vice by the officials of Wichita. 
Poor degraded Wichita with her corrupt officials and 
that vile Wichita Eagle, and its Murdocks. But God 
has a people there and they will be victors in this fight. 
We were convicted of course, I got thirty days in jail 
and $150, the rest $150, except Sister Muntz, who only 
got $50. We employed Judge Ray to take our cases 
to the District Court. At the present writing I am out 
on bail and so far as the jail is concerned, I do not 
dread it. God will liberate some when I am in bonds. 
Poor women, poor mothers. God who “tempers the 
wind to the shorn lamb,” will come to their relief from 
a degradation worse than death. 

AFTER TRIAL IN THE DISTRICT COURT. 

I am out on parole under a jail sentence of four 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


295 


months, and a fine of $250.00. This man Wilson, who 
is in the place of a judge, knows that it is a lawless 
outrage, but true to his party or trust he stands by the 
combine for as long as the Republican Liquor Power 
controls office motherhood is sacrificed to the greed of 
this boa constrictor that coils its huge body crushing 
out the life and soul of man, woman and child. 

If Roosevelt had a sincere interest in increasing the 
population by urging women to bear children he 
would say something about what makes it a terror to 
do so. 


CHAPTER XXV. 

SKETCH BY WILL CARLTON, IN HIS MAGAZINE, “EVERY¬ 
WHERE.” 

Some years ago, the American public, always long¬ 
ing for “something new,” was treated to an absolutely 
unique sensation. A woman armed with a hatchet had 
gone into a Kansas liquor saloon and smashed up its 
appurtenances, in a very thorough and unconventional 
manner. After this, she went into and through an¬ 
other, and another; and it began to look as if all the 
bibulous paraphernalia of Kansas were about to be 
sent into the twilight. 

When the smoke had somewhat cleared away, and 
time elapsed sufficient to garner these circumstances 
into authentic news, it transpired that the woman who 
had done this was Mrs. Carry A. Nation—utterly ob¬ 
scure and unknown until that week. 

This raid among decanters was a very singular and 
startling act, for a woman ; but, somehow, people found 
it refreshing. It represented precisely what many had 
imagined in their minds, what thousands of women 
had wished they themselves could or dared do, what 
myraids of confirmed drinkers, even, had wished might 
be done. News of Mrs. Nation’s swift and decided 
action went all over the country, like a stiff, healthy 
gale. She was sharply criticised—but there lurked 
very often a “dry grin” behind the criticism. This 
smashing was all very direct and unique; and Amer¬ 
icans are in general fond of directness and uniqueness. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


297 


It was, technically, illegal; but, even so, it was remark¬ 
ed that the saloons which Mrs. Nation wrecked, were 
themselves in brazen defiance of the laws of the state 
of Kansas—unenforced on account of the fear or ven¬ 
ality of public officers. 

The work of this determined woman went on with 
a thoroughness and promptness that made it ultra- 
interesting. She was imprisoned again and again, and 
became an inmate, at one time and another, of some 
thirty-two different jails. She had trial after trial— 
in which was developed the fact that her tongue was 
as sharp as her hatchet; she often addressing even the 
judge presiding, as “Your Dishonor,” while prosecut¬ 
ing attorneys she treated with ''supreme scorn. Not 
much mercy was shown her in the county bastiles; she 
was often bestowed in cells next to insane people—in 
the hope, she thinks, that she might become really 
crazy, as well as reputedly so. One sheriff, finding 
that the fumes of cigarette smoking made her ill, treat¬ 
ed all her fellow-inmates to the little white cylinders, 
and set them at work puffing vigorously. Chivalry 
and humanity seemed, for the time being, to have fad¬ 
ed from men’s minds. 

In these different immurments, she had time to write 
her friends and even publish a paper, called, “The 
Smasher’s Mail.” She told how she came to do this 
work; it was, she claimed, by the direct command of 
God. She had promised Him that if He would for¬ 
give her many sins, she would work for Him in ways 
no one else would; and He took her at her word—or¬ 
dering her to go and smash saloons. This, of course, 
provokes a smile, among most people, but Mrs. Nation 


298 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


is not the first one that has worked under God’s com¬ 
mand—whether real or supposed. 

At last, so many fines were heaped up against her, 
which must be paid before she could be liberated, that 
it seemed to her as if she would never get free; but 
in this dark hour, a lecture agent appeared, and said 
he would pay the amount if she would give him some 
“dates.” She laughingly says now, that she did not 
know what he meant; and actually wondered if he 
thought she was a fruit dealer. But when he explained 
what he meant by “dates,” a chance to go on the plat¬ 
form and give the people a reason for the hatchet that 
was in her hand, she saw the gates were opened; and 
enthusiastically went from jail to the lecture platform. 

She became immediately a drawing card—in assem¬ 
bly halls in some churches, and even at county fairs. 
She worked, tirelessly and industriously, to pay back 
the lecture agent for the sums he had advanced; and 
after a time found surplus amounts on hand. 

She did not hesitate very long as to the purpose for 
which they were to be applied. Her personal expenses 
were very small; she dresses plainly; and believes that 
God is entitled to her financial gains. 

“A home for drunkards’ wives,” was her first 
thought, after paying the fine money, and she set about 
it, and is working for it now. 

After her platform work had proceeded for a time, 
it was decided that she should star in the play, “Ten 
Nights in a Bar-room.” As all know, who have wit¬ 
nessed this simple but powerful drama, every act of 
it is a prohibition lecture, and Mrs. Nation’s part, that 
of the mother of the murdered boy, was a lecture of 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


299 


itself. In one scene, she was represented as smashing 
a saloon, most thoroughly; and this business was the 
most popular of anything in the play—even at theatres 
that drew most of their patronage from habitues of 
saloons. 

Mrs. Nation’s reasons for stepping from the 
churches to the foot-lights, is not without its logic, in 
these days. “People go to the theatres more than they 
do the churches,” she says, “and I want to go where 
there are plenty of people to hear me, and where they 
need me.” 

From the regular theatre she passed, and from the 
same reasons, to the vaudeville, and did her regular 
“stunts” along with the singers, the dancers, and har¬ 
lequins, acrobats, and the burnt cork humorist. The 
writer of this has seen her in one of these perform¬ 
ances, and considers it entirely unique and unmistak¬ 
ably commendable. 

It was in one of the most “free and easy” vaudeville 
shows in Greater New York, and the audience, com¬ 
posed of men and boys, was a hilarious one, and could 
have even become a turbulent one, if anything had oc¬ 
curred that did not please them. Many were half 
drunk, or nearly so. “Smoke, if you want to,” was 
lettered on a conspicuous sign, and most of this audi¬ 
ence wanted to. In the midst of the exercises, an in¬ 
terlude occurred, in which the audience was invited to 
a saloon down stairs, where they could proceed still 
farther in the liquid burning out of their bodies. On 
the same stage of this same vaudeville theatre, John L. 
Sullivan, the retired prize fighter, had, only a week 
before, appeared “in monologue,” and had sometimes 


300 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


been so drunk that he could not go through with his 
part. 

In the midst of all this, Carry Nation was announc¬ 
ed, and she stepped upon the stage, unattended by any 
glare of colored lights or fanfare of music. A quiet, 
motherly looking woman, plainly dressed, with a Bible 
in her hand, she commanded almost immediately the 
respect of that large crowd—from the men in the or¬ 
chestra stalls to the gallery gods. One half intoxicat¬ 
ed fellow began to scoff at her, but was almost immed¬ 
iately hushed by the scarcely less drunken ones around 
him. It was a sight that hushed them all into respect¬ 
ful silence, for a respectable, .earnest woman, with the 
Holy Book in her hands, will have a subduing effect 
upon almost any company of people. 

Mrs. Nation announced. her text, and preached a 
sermon, and delivered a temperance lecture, both with¬ 
in the half-hour. (The latter she calls a “prohibition 
lecture”—hating the word temperance, as applied to 
drink.) 

She said words, such as had probably not been heard 
by most of those there, for a great many years. She 
told them what sots they were making of themselves, 
and made her points so emphatic that they cheered her 
—almost in spite of themselves. She commenced her 
speech as an experiment, so far as that day’s audience 
was concerned; she closed a heroine. She did not. re¬ 
main idle during the time between her appearances on 
the stage, but cultivated the acquaintances of the actors 
and actresses, and, it is said, to their good. 

That is what Mrs. Nation is doing now, on what is 
called the eastern vaudeville circuit ; and it would be 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


301 


hard to see how one woman could do more good in 
half an hour, than she does; and that among those that 
need it most. 

Mrs. Nation’s whole name is Carrie Amelia Nation, 
but having noticed from old records that her father 
wrote the first name “Carry,” she now does the same, 
and considers the name portentous as concerns what 
she is trying and means to do. She believes, she says, 
that it is her mission to “carry a nation” from the 
darkness of drunken bestiality into the light of purity 
and sobriety; and if she can do this, or in any great 
measure contribute to it, there are millions of people 
in the world, that will bid her God speed. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

ALCOHOL NOT A DRINK.-NOT A FOOD.-DR. N. S. DAVIS 

OF CHICAGO.-NANSEN OF NORWAY.-NOT A MED¬ 
ICINE.-HOW IT ACTS ON THE HEART.-DOES NOT 

ALLAY PAIN.-CAUSES DISEASE.-ATWATER'S ERROR.- 

SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY ON BEER. 

A scientific article on the effects of alcohol on the 
human system. If any doctor should try to deceive you 
here is the proof of his malicious intent to drug you. 

LIQUOR DRINKING IN HEALTH AND DI¬ 
SEASE. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE UPON THE PROGRESS MADE 
IN MEDICAL SCIENCE IN FAVOR OF TEMPERANCE DUR¬ 
ING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 1 , 1902 . -A. W. GUT- 

RIDGE, CHAIRMAN, READ AT THE THIRTY-FIRST AN¬ 
NUAL CONVENTION OF THE CATHOLIC TOTAL ABSTIN¬ 
ENCE UNION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. PAUL, AND 
ORDERED PUBLISHED BY THE CONVENTION. 

In order to understand what progress has been 
made during the year, it is necessary to note the con - 
dition of affairs at the commencement of the period. 

Long before this committee began work the leading 
physicians of every enlightened country, the men to 
whom the entire profession looks for guidance, had 
declared against the use of alcohol both in health and 
in disease. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


303 


IS ALCOHOL A DRINK ? 

One reason why all the greatest physicians believed 
it harmful was because it had been found that alcohol 
was not a drink. The most abundant substance found 
in the human body, is water. About 130 pounds of 
the weight of a 160-pound person is water, “Quite 
enough if rightly arranged to drown him.” Man has 
been irreverently described as “about 30 pounds of 
solids set up in 13 gallons of water.” So it is quite na¬ 
tural for us to hunger for water; “death by thirst is 
more rapid and distressing than by starvation.” “It is 
through the medium, of the water contained in the 
animal body that all its vital functions are carried on.” 
Dr. W. B. Richardson of England has pointed out 
more than fifty characteristics of the action of a nat¬ 
ural drink upon the system. The action of alcohol is the 
opposite of these in every particular, and therefore it 
is not a real or natural drink. Of course the water 
which is found in mixture in all alcoholic liquors serves 
to quench thirst, even though it is often foul water. 

IS IT A FOOD ? 

We also found, upon taking up the work imposed 
upon us, that alcohol had been demonstrated not to be 
a food. Many classifications of foods have been made, 
but about the best is that which divides them broadly 
into two classes: to use homely language, flesh formers 
and body warmers; those which build up or repair the 
bodily waste, and those which sustain the animal 
warmth. The slow fire within us being necessary to 
life we hunger for that only which will replace the 
substance destroyed by the burning. “To the child of 


304 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


nature all hurtful things are repulsive, all beautiful 
things attractive.” As to flesh formers, it had been 
noted that all foods useful in repairing bodily waste 
contain the element nitrogen. Alcohol contains no 
nitrogen, and so could not be classed among body 
builders. The chief body warmer is sugar. Alcohol 
being a product of sugar, people were all misled for 
years into thinking that it does in some kind and de¬ 
gree feed the system. The mistake was easy, since 
after taking alcohol there is a temporary increase in 
vivacity of mind and manner and in surface temper¬ 
ature, and a lessened requirement for regular foods. 
These opinions had been tested in the light of truth and 
proved erroneous. Axel Gustafson, in his Foundation 
of Death, considers this subject at length. As early 
as 1840 French physicians discovered that alcohol act¬ 
ually reduced the temperature of the body. Promin¬ 
ent German and English medical men soon confirmed 
the statement, and in 1850, Dr. N. S. Davis of Chi¬ 
cago, the founder of the American Medical Associa¬ 
tion, in speaking of a number of observations during 
the active period of digestion after ordinary . food, 
whether nitrogenous or carbonaceous “the temperature 
of the body is always increased, but after taking alco¬ 
hol, in either the form of the fermented or the distilled 
drinks, it begins to fall within half an hour and con¬ 
tinues to decrease for- from two to three hours. The 
extent and duration of the reduction was in direct pro¬ 
portion to the amount of alcohol taken.” The most 
prominent physician in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, 
.Scandinavia and Russia reached similar conclusions 
shortly after this. In explorations in the Arctic regions 


19 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


305 


where the cold is intense, no alcoholic drinks are per¬ 
mitted. Dr. Nansen, the great Norwegian, attributes 
the fatalities of the Greely expedition to the use of li¬ 
quor, and this is the only expedition of recent years 
which permitted the use of alcoholic drinks. As a mat¬ 
ter of fact it was long ago proved that “Alcohol does 
not warm nor cool a person, but only destroys the sen¬ 
sation and decreases the vitality.” Superficial observ¬ 
ers, however, have upheld the use of alcohol as a food, 
saying, “See how fleshy it makes people.” Well, 
healthy fat is not always an advantage, but beer drink¬ 
ers’ fat is not the genuine article. Healthy fat repre¬ 
sents a stock of body warming food laid up for a time 
of need and is formed only in health. The “fat” us¬ 
ually exhibited by beer drinkers is not a fat at all; oil 
is not its chief factor. It consists of particles of partly 
digested flesh forming food which the system required, 
but which it was unable to assimilate owing to the 
presence in the body of the alcohol which the beer con¬ 
tained. This sort of fat instead of indicating health 
points to disease. This general teaching as to the 
worthlessness of alcohol as a food had been set forth 
by the leaders in the medical profession, and accepted 
largely by the rank and file of practitioners for about 
twenty-five years. An occasional cry came from the 
other side, however, and late in 1899 Dr. W. O. At¬ 
water, professor in Wesleyan University, announced 
that he had, by an extended series of experiments, 
proved the truth of the claims of those experimentors 
who believed alcohol to have value as a food. Dr. 
Atwater’s reports were widely published by the whis¬ 
key press, and a state of some unrest amongst think- 


306 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


ing physicians followed, which had not been wholly 
quieted when this committee began work. 

IS IT A MEDICINE? 

At the time we began work, however, it had been 
demonstrated that alcohol is not a medicine. Many 
years ago Dr. Nottingham, a great English physician, 
said: “Alcohol is neither food nor physic.” Dr. Nicols, 
editor Boston Journal of Chemistry, long ago wrote, 
“The banishment of alcohol would not deprive us of 
a single one of the indispensable agents which modern 
civilization demands. In no instance of disease in any 
form, is it a medicine which might not be dispensed 
with.” Dr. Bunge, professor of physical chemistry in 
the University of Basle, Switzerland, said: “In general 
let it be understood that all the workings of alcohol in 
the system which usually are considered as excitement 
or stimulation are only indications of paralysis. It is 
a deep-rooted error, sense of fatigue is the safety value 
of the human organism. Whoever dulls this sense in 
order to work harder or longer may be likened to an 
engineer who sits down on his safety valve in order 
to make better speed with his engine.” Dr. F. H. 
Hammond of the U. S. army said: “Alcohol strength¬ 
ens no one. It only deadens the feeling of fatigue.” 
Dr. Sims Woodhead, professor in Cambridge Univers¬ 
ity, England, had given the following list of conditions 
in which alcohol should not be used: In those (1) 
who have any family history of drunkenness, insanity, 
or nervous disease. (2) Who have u. c ed alcohol to 
excess in childhood or youth. (3) Who are nervous, 
irritable or badly nourshed. (4) Who suffer from 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


307 


injuries to the head, gross disease of the brain and sun¬ 
stroke. (5) Who suffer from great bodily weakness, 
particularly during convalescence from exhausting di¬ 
sease. (6) Who are engaged in exciting or exhaust¬ 
ing employment, in bad air and surroundings, in work 
shops and mines. (7) Who are solitary or lonely or 
require amusement. (8) Who have little self-control 
either hereditary or acquired. (9) Who suffer from 
weakness, the result of senile degeneration. (10) Who 
suffer from organic or functional diseases of the stom¬ 
ach, liver, kidney or heart. (11) Who are young. 

Much has been said concerning the stimulating ef¬ 
fect of alcohol upon the heart, and this had been treat¬ 
ed at length. There is an increased action of about 
four thousand beats in twenty-four hours for every 
ounce of alcohol used. This fact still misleads some 
physicians into prescribing it to strengthen the weak 
heart, but the increase is not due to new force. The 
heart action normally is the result of arterial pressure 
and nervous action, two forces mutually balancing 
each other. The nervous action is diminished by the 
introduction of the alcohol; this destroys the balance 
and deranges the arterial pressure. Dr. James Ed¬ 
munds, a great English physician, years ago said: 
“When we see a man breathing with great vigor, does 
it occur to us that he must be in good health ? Is it an 
indication that he gets more air? We all know better. 
It simply shows that he has asthma or some such di¬ 
sease, and that his breathing is strained and imperfect. 
He is making use of less air than the person who 
breathes quietly. This is the case with the blood work, 
so it plunges and struggles in the effort. And the 


308 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


cause of both cases is the same. There is more car¬ 
bonic acid in the blood than either the heart or the 
lungs can handle. If for example I were suffering 
from general debility and milk were the food best 
suited to my needs, and if I should discover a tramp 
in my apartments drinking of my already too limited 
supply, would it be reasonable to assert that the ex¬ 
hibition of strength which I made in forcing him to 
desist is an indication that the entrance of the vagrant 
bettered my enfeebled condition? The greater activity 
of the heart is not due to the added strength resulting 
from recruits of friends but to a desperate struggle to 
beat back a reinforced enemy.” 

That alcohol does not allay pain had been estab¬ 
lished when this committee was organized. The only 
proper method of allaying pain is to remedy the dis¬ 
order which produced it. It is no remedy to deaden 
the nerves so that we cannot feel it. This reasoning 
had been found good in the case of alcohol as a rem¬ 
edy in “colds.” Whiskey does not relieve the uneasi¬ 
ness and oppression we experience when ailing from a 
cold, it only benumbs the nerves so we do not feel the 
trouble. The cure is not hastened but delayed in this 
way. 


IS IT THE CAUSE OF DISEASE? 

Besides the fact that alcohol had, before this com¬ 
mittee’s existence, been proved to be neither a drink 
nor a food nor a medicine, it had also been shown to 
be the cause of disease. Over five thousand of the 
most prominent physicians in this country had so stat¬ 
ed it, and the proportion was equally great in all the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


309 


enlightened countries of Europe. The most pronounc¬ 
ed in this way, perhaps, have been the great leaders in 
medical science in Austria, Germany and France. 
Some of the points made against the use of alcohol 
were that it interferes with digestion by rendering in¬ 
soluble the active principle of the gastric juice, and 
especially by preventing the solution of body-building 
foods. The natural action of various organs of the 
body is more or less arrested by alcohol, thus reduc¬ 
ing the temperature. This from Dr. Edmunds already 
quoted: “The blood carries certain earthy matters in 
it in a soluble state, these earthy matters being neces¬ 
sary for the nutrition of the bones and other parts of 
the body. You all know that when wine is fermented 
and turned from a weak sweet wine into a strong alco¬ 
holic wine, you get what is called a 'crust’ formed on 
the inside of the bottle. What is that crust? That 
crust consists of saline or earthy matters which were 
soluble in the saccharine grape juice, but which are 
insoluble in the alcoholic fluids. We find in drunkards 
that the blood vessels get into the same state as the 
wine bottles from the deposit of earthy matter which 
has no business to be deposited, and forms the 'bees¬ 
wing’ or crust in the blood vessels of the drunkard, in 
his eve and in all of the tissues of the body.” Alcohol 
had been found to prevent the elimination of waste, 
thus the body is loaded with worn and decaying tissues, 
leaving the system an inviting field for all sorts of di¬ 
seases. Life insurance companies, influenced by busi¬ 
ness interests wholly, make a distinction between li¬ 
quor users and non-users. Nelson, a distinguished 
actuary of England, employed as an expert by life in- 


310 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


surance companies, found after investigating over 
7,000 cases, none of which were drunkards, that be¬ 
tween the ages of 15 and 20 the proportion of deaths 
in total abstainers to those in moderate drinkers is as 
10 to 18; between the ages of 25 and 30, as 10 to 31; 
between 30 and 40 as 10 is to 40. 

With reference to the effect on the offspring of 
drinking parents, the medical profession had accepted 
the teaching of the French specialist, Dr. Jaccound, 
that “of the children of drinkers some of them become 
inbeciles and idots; others are feeble in mind, exhibit 
moral perversion, and sink by degrees into complete 
degeneration; still others are epileptics, deaf and 
dumb, scrofulous, etc.,” and of the English teacher, 
Dr. Kerr, that 'dong continued habitual indulgence in 
intoxicating drink to an extent far short of intoxica¬ 
tion is not only sufficient to originate and hand down 
a morbid tendency, but is much more likely to do so 
than even repeated drunken outbreaks with intervals 
of sobriety between.” 

Thus the men who have been of the greatest honor 
to the profession in every land were a unit in opposing 
the use of alcohol in health or disease and in holding 
that if people are determined to use it there is less 
danger in health, as then the system is in better condi¬ 
tion to throw off its evil effects. 

PROGRESS DURING THE PAST YEAR. 

Now as to the progress made during the past year. 
In June, 1901, the American Medical Association met 
in St. Paul. The branch of it giving special study to 
the temperance question held several sessions, about 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


311 


one hundred of the most distinguished physicians in 
the country attending. Much time was given to con¬ 
sidering Dr. Atwater’s teaching to the effect that he 
had proved alcohol to be a food. During the previous 
year he had published the details of his experiments, 
and at the convention it was shown that his own ex¬ 
periments upset his conclusions. It had been held that 
except in rare instances alcohol taken into the system 
passed away from it as alcohol without change. Dr. 
Atwater’s experiments strengthened somewhat the 
position of those who held that change is not infre¬ 
quent, but he concluded that the portion broken up 
while in the body served as a food. A closer examin¬ 
ation of his own experiments showed that the portion 
oxidized had gone to form other compounds in the sys¬ 
tem which were possibly more harmful than if it had 
all passed off unchanged. Dr. Max Kassowitz, pro¬ 
fessor in the University of Vienna, said, after Dr. At¬ 
water’s statement had been published: “For the animal 
and human organism, alcohol is not both a food and 
a poison, but a poison only, which like other poisons 
is an irritant when taken in small doses while in larger 
ones it produces paralysis.” In connection with the 
fact that alcohol is simply a poison, it may be worth 
stating, that the original meaning of the word “intoxi¬ 
cated” was “poisoned.” After reading Dr. Atwater, 
the Russian Commission for the study of alcoholism, 
after two years’ work, said: “The claim that alcohol 
is a food in any proper sense of the term is not suffic¬ 
iently proved.” In the St. Paul convention spoken of, 
politics obtained a foothold, and some weak resolu¬ 
tions in favor of the army canteen were adopted but 


312 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


not even the champions of the canteen were willing to 
subscribe to the statement that alcohol is ever a real 
food. 

Just previous to our last convention much noise was 
made through the daily press concerning a finding of 
some English scientist to the effect that an acquired 
tendency cannot be transmitted to offspring. We were 
told that this would upset the theory that children in¬ 
herit a craving for intoxicants from intemperate par¬ 
ents, and “the moralists and reformers would have to 
readjust their logic on these points.” In the annual re¬ 
port of the president of the Union a year ago, atten¬ 
tion was drawn to the fact that those who indulge in 
this sort of sophistry have not read what the teachings 
of temperance workers have been on the subject. Such 
was not the opinion of the scientists making the re¬ 
port, for it says, “Children of drunkards are liable to 
.be mentally and physically weak and tend to become 
paupers, criminals, epileptics and drunkards.” It will 
be seen from what has been said that this is the posi¬ 
tion we have held all along. Dr. Davis, the dean of 
American physicians opposing the use of alcohol, has 
published during the year a number of articles show¬ 
ing the impossibility of alcohol’s being of service as 
a medicine, and has dwelt especially upon its harmful 
effects in fevers, diseases in which it is still much pre¬ 
scribed. The two influential temperance societies com¬ 
posed of American physicians have, during the past 
year, kept up the agitation against alcohol as a medi¬ 
cine, and good is coming from it, as gradually medical 
journals are giving more and more space to the ques- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


313 


tion. The following international manifesto has been 
issued by the leading physicians of the world: 

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL MANIFESTO. 

“The following statement has been agreed upon by 
the Council of the British Medical Temperance Asso¬ 
ciation, the American Medical Temperance Associa¬ 
tion, the Society of Medical Abstainers in Germany, 
the leading physicians in England and on the contin¬ 
ent. The purpose of this is to have a general agree¬ 
ment of opinions of all prominent physicians in civil¬ 
ized countries concerning the dangers from alcohol, 
and in this way give support to the efforts made to 
check and prevent the evils from this source. 

In view of the terrible evils which have resulted 
from the consumption of alcohol, evils which in many 
parts of the world are rapidly increasing, we, members 
of the medical profession, feel it to be our duty, as 
being in some sense the guardians of the public health, 
to speak plainly of the nature of alcohol, and of the 
injury to the individual and the danger to the com¬ 
munity which arise from the prevalent use of intox¬ 
icating liquors as beverages. 

We think that it ought to be known that: 

1. Experiments have demonstrated that even a 
small quantity of alcoholic liquor, either immediately 
or after a short time, prevents perfect mental action, 
and interferes with the functions of the cells and tis¬ 
sues of the body, impairing self-control by producing 
other markedly injurious effects. Hence alcohol must 
be regarded as a poison, and ought not to be classed 
among foods. 


814 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


2. Observation establishes the fact that a moderate 
use of alcoholic liquors, continued over a number of 
years, produces a gradual deterioration of the tissues 
of the body, and hastens the changes which old age 
brings, thus increasing the average liability to disease 
(especially to infectious disease,) and shortening the 
duration of life. 

3. Total abstainers, other conditions being similar, 
can perform more work, possess greater powers of 
endurance, have on the average less sickness, and re¬ 
cover more quickly than non-abstainers, especially 
from infectious diseases, while they altogether escape 
diseases specially caused by alcohol. 

4. All the bodily functions of a man, as of every 
other animal, are best performed in the absence of al¬ 
cohol, and any supposed experience to the contrary is 
founded on delusion, a result of the action of alcohol 
on the nerve centers. 

5. Further, alcohol tends to produce in the offspring 
of drinkers an unstable nervous system, lowering them 
mentally, morally and physically. Thus deterioration 
of the race threatens us, and this is likely to be great¬ 
ly accelerated by the alarming increase of drinking 
among women, who have hitherto been little addicted 
to this vice. Since the mothers of the coming genera¬ 
tion are thus involved the importance and danger of 
this increase cannot be exaggerated. 

See, then, that the common use of alcoholic bever¬ 
ages is always and everywhere followed, sooner or 
later, by moral, physical and social results of a most 
serious and threatening character, and that it is the 
cause, direct or indirect, of a very large proportion of 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


315 


the poverty, suffering, vice, crime, lunacy, disease and 
death, not only in the case of those who take such bev¬ 
erages, but in the case of others who are unavoidably 
associated with them, we feel warranted, nay, compell¬ 
ed to urge the general adoption of total abstinence 
from all intoxicating liquors as beverages, as the sur¬ 
est, simplest, and quickest method of removing the 
evils which necessarily result from their use. Such 
a course is not only universally safe, but it is also na¬ 
tural. 

We believe that such an era of health, happiness and 
prosperity would be inaugurated thereby that many 
of the social problems of the present age would be 
solved.” 

The year has been marked by more detailed exam¬ 
ination of the effects of alcohol upon the human sys¬ 
tem, with the result that progress towards its eventual 
overthrow as a medicine has been distinctly made. 
The greatest reforms are brought about quietly, but 
truth is mighty and does prevail. It will take time 
but gradually all will come to feel the suggestive power 
in the fact that “The table of nature is spread, and 
bountifully spread, for all its millions upon millions of 
guests, but wine and strong drink are not on the table.” 

SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY ON BEER. 
(From speech by Senator J. FI. Gallinger, M. D., 
January 9, 1901.) 

OPINIONS OF LEADING PHYSICIANS. 

The alarming growth of the use of beer among our 
people, and the spreading delusion among many who 
consider themselves temperate and sober, that the en- 


310 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


couragement of beer drinking is an effective way of 
promoting the cause of temperance and of aiding to 
stamp out the demon rum, impelled the Toledo Blade 
to send a representative to a number of the leading 
physicians of Toledo to obtain their opinions as to the 
real damage which indulgence in malt liquors does the 
victim of that form of intemperance. 

Every one is not only a gentleman of the highest 
personal character, but is a physician whose profes¬ 
sional abilities have been severely tested, and received 
the stamp of the highest indorsement by the public and 
their professional brethren. More skillful physicians 
are not to be found anywhere. We have not selected 
those of known temperance principles. What they say 
of beer is not colored by any feeling for or against 
temperance, but is the cold, bare experience of men of 
science who know whereof they speak. 

A BEER DRINKING CITY. 

Toledo is essentially a beer drinking city. The Ger¬ 
man population is very large. Five of the largest 
breweries in the country are here. Probably more beer 
is drank, in proportion to the population, than in any 
other city in the United States. The practice of these 
physicians is, therefore, largely among beer drinkers, 
and they have had abundant opportunities to know ex¬ 
actly its bearings on health and disease. 

Every one bears testimony that no man can drink 
beer safely, that it is an injury to any one who uses it 
in any quantity, and that its effect on the general health 
of the country has been even worse than that of whis¬ 
key. The indictment they with one accord present 
against beer drinking is simply terrible. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


317 


The devilfish crushing a man in his long, winding 
arms, and sucking his blood from his mangled body, is 
not so frightful an assailant as this deadly but insidious 
enemy, which fastens itself upon its victim, and daily 
becomes more and more the wretched man’s master, 
and finally dragging him to his grave at a time when 
other men are in their prime of mental and bodily 
vigor. 

BEER KILLS QUICKER THAN OTHER LIQUORS. 

Dr. S. H. Burgeon, a practitioner thirty-five years, 
twenty-eight in Toledo, says: “I think beer kills quick¬ 
er than any other liquor. My attention was first called 
to its insidious effects, when I began examining for 
life insurance. I passed as unusually good risks five 
Germans—young business men—who seemed in the 
best health, and to have superb constitutions. In a 
few years I was amazed to see the whole five drop 
off, one after another, with what ought to have been 
mild and easily curable diseases. On comparing my 
experience with that of other physicians I found they 
were all having similar luck with confirmed beer 
drinkers, and my practice since has heaped confirma¬ 
tion on confirmation. 

“The first organ to be attacked is the kidneys; the 
liver soon sympathizes, and then comes, most frequent¬ 
ly, dropsy or Bright’s disease, both certain to end fatal¬ 
ly. Any physician, who cares to take the time, will 
tell you that among the dreadful results of beer drink¬ 
ing are lockjaw and erysipelas, and that the beer 
drinker seems incapable of recovering from mild dis¬ 
orders and injuries not usually regarded of a grave 


318 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


character. Pneumonia, pleurisy, fevers, etc., seem to 
have a first mortgage on him, which they foreclose re¬ 
morselessly at an early opportunity. 

BEER WORSE THAN WHISKEY. 

“The beer drinker is much worse off than the whis¬ 
key drinker, who seems to have more elasticity and 
reserve power. He will even have delirium tremens; 
but after the fit is gone you will sometimes find good 
material to work upon. Good management may bring 
him around all right. But when a beer drinker gets 
into trouble it seems almost as if you have to recreate 
the man before you can do anything for him. I have 
talked this for years, and have had abundance of liv¬ 
ing and dead instances around me to support my opin¬ 
ions.” 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

MOVED TO OKLAHOMA.-PUBLISHERS OF THE ‘'HOME 

DEFENDER^ OBTAINING MONEY UNDER FALSE PRE¬ 
TENSES.-MY ARREST IN HOT SPRINGS, ARK.—-ARREST 

IN DENVER.-ONE OF THE DEEPEST SORROWS OF MY 

LIFE. 

In the spring of 1905, I moved to Oklahoma to help 
that struggling state to deliver herself from the clutch¬ 
es of the Roosevelt administration that was determined 
not to allow her to have the enabling act that would 
give her the power to make her own constitution and 
elect her own governing power as a state. Mr. Roose¬ 
velt and Mr. Taft took their turns with their rough- 
riders and other appointed officers to bring about the 
“stand pat" and “let us appoint your officers." This 
was in the main because Mr. Roosevelt and his crowd 
knew that when Oklahoma got statehood she would 
abolish the saloons. I began to publish my magazine, 
“The Hatchet," which I started in Guthrie, the Capital. 
This was a great expense to me as anyone who pub¬ 
lishes a periodical knows. I was not wise or exper¬ 
ienced in starting a paper. I would publish as many 
as fifteen thousand, costing me as much as $200.00 a 
month, and send them over the state far and near call¬ 
ing to the people to rouse themselves and demand 
statehood, even if they had to call a convention with¬ 
out the enabling act. I went from town to town, and 
I would speak from the middle of the street, from 
goods boxes, and in the school houses, in churches, in 


320 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


opera houses and everywhere I could get a crowd, cry¬ 
ing aloud at such an outrage to so great and populous 
a state as Oklahoma. The people sent one delegation 
after another to Washington. The pressure was so 
strong that after a while she was granted the enabling 
act, and when the constitution was framed the saloons 
went out of the state. Glory to God. 

There was started in Chicago in 1895, a paper called 
“The Home Defender,” edited and published by three 
young boys who were prohibitionists. I took great in¬ 
terest in the efforts of these boys and bought stock 
from them, and would often write to encourage them. 
In the spring of 1905, Thorwald Mauritzen, one of 
these boys came to see me in Oklahoma and said the 
paper was sadly behind. They could not get out the 
March issue without funds and that he came to me to 
ask me to assist him, saying that if he got out this issue 
he could get $300.00 worth of advertising, that he had 
thirty thousand subscribers and that if I could let him 
have fifteen hundred dollars it would put the paper 
on a good basis. I let this young man have the money, 
this made in all about twenty-five hundred dollars I 
had invested in this paper. I had just sold the prop¬ 
erty in Topeka that I wanted to deed to the W. C. T. 
U., but they did not see clearly to use it entirely for 
prohibition as I wanted them to. This young man re¬ 
turned to Chicago and the next letter I got from him 
he told me that the “Home Defender” was going to 
send him over to England on business for the paper. 
Three or four days after that I got a letter from Mr. 
Coon and Mr. Murry, men connected with the “Home 
Defender,” asking me to write or wire to New York 


20 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


321 


City, giving me the address, to prevent Thorwald 
Mauritzen from going abroad, that the interest of the 
paper demanded that he should return. I wrote the 
letter, Mr. Mauritzen got it, but it did not stop him. 
I went to Chicago to investigate matters and found 
that the paper was about to go to pieces, and that the 
money that I let them have was. all gone. I never did 
find out what they did with it. The fact was Mr. 
Mauritzen went to Norway on business of his own 
and had used my money to pay his expenses. Mr. 
Coon and Mr. Murry were ministers of the Gospel. 
Mr. Coon is now publishing a prominent Baptist Jour¬ 
nal in Chicago. I have never met two men that acted 
more like sharpers and I pronounce both of them hypo¬ 
crites. Jesus calls them “wolves in sheeps clothing.” 
The advertising list was all they had, they sold it out 
to Mr. Blake, who knew that I had stock in the paper 
but did not know that I had a $1,300.00 note against 
the “Home Defender”. When he found that out he 
made Mr. Coon, Mr. Murry and Mr. Mauritzen each 
one give him a note covering the amount. I wrote to 
Mr. Alonzo Wilson, and Mr. Chas. Jones about the 
matter, the latter gave me the name of a lawyer in 
Chicago. This lawyer could give me no satisfaction. 
I did not know for two years that Mr. Blake held these 
notes of these men until after Mr. Ferguson got the 
“Home Defender” and started another prohibition 
paper in Chicago. He has written me to come to Chi¬ 
cago to see about the matter. I cannot tell what the 
result will be, but I want to tell my readers that I have 
used my means as far as possible to further prohibi¬ 
tion. Mr. Mauritzen and Mr. Coon both went into the 


322 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


newspaper business after selling the “Home Defender” 
but they had no money to pay me. I gave one hun¬ 
dred dollars to Mr. Laycock of the “Search Light,” 
Litchfield, Illinois. I have always contributed to the 
“New Voice,” until it fell through, and have always 
given to the National Prohibition work until I found 
out Mr. Jones was a Mason, and I can “have no fel¬ 
lowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but 
rather reprove them.” I can count perils among false 
brethren as well as Paul. Every dollar of money that 
I have belongs to God. Alas, I have been so unfort¬ 
unate as not to use it as wisely as I ought. I have 
been laying up some now to take care of my poor 
afflicted child, who is thrown entirely upon me for 
support, for there is nothing but her mother’s care that 
will keep her from the insane asylum, for her husband 
has written me that he will send her there at my death. 
I have purchased some real-estate in Oklahoma which 
now rents for about thirty-five dollars a month, her 
board at the Sanitarium is fifty dollars besides other 
expenses. The public asylum would be cheaper, but 
she has a horror of going to one and she never shall 
if I can prevent it. 

ARREST IN DENVER AND HOT SPRINGS. 

In the winter of 1907, I was in Hot Springs, Ar¬ 
kansas, and I lectured and went in the gambling dens 
and other disreputable houses. I was arrested, drag¬ 
ged to jail by a miserable, cruel policeman. I was put 
in the cell with three desolate looking, cigarette smok¬ 
ing magdalenes. I fell on my knees at the sight of 
these haggard creatures of despair. I’was still pray- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


323 


ing when the door was opened and I was brought be¬ 
fore the chief of police, who seemed to be a nice man. 
I was released and the mayor wrote me a note saying 
that if I would attend the sale of lots the next day, he 
would send a carriage for me and give me $50.00 for 
a fifteen minutes talk. Of course I accepted this and 
he gave me $50.00 and I sold $60.00 worth of hatchets 
to the crowd. “When a man’s way pleases the Lord, 
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” 
(Prov. 16:7.) 

In August, 1906, I was in Denver lecturing. I heard 
of the disgraceful condition of this city, of the vice 
and the liquor and prostitution. There was one street 
especially, called Market street where there was open 
and flagrant vice of the blackest character. I went 
down this street one evening to see these poor degrad¬ 
ed people, such as Isaiah tells about (42:22.) “But 
this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them 
snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they 
are for a prey and none delivereth; for a spoil, and 
none saith restore.” It was mentioned in the paper 
that I would visit this street, and the crowds were 
there by the hundreds. There were people there of 
all classes, the high and the low, the Salvation Army, 
the gambler, the drunkard, the half dressed harlot, the 
butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, all eager¬ 
ly listening for something. I watched that surging 
throng and a great pity came into my heart. “O, Jeru¬ 
salem, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen 
gathers her brood under her wings.” (Matt. 23 :37.) I 
went through one of these houses and began talking 
to these poor sisters of mine. Some officers hurried 


324 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


up to me and said: “ You must get out of here.” 
Others were free to go there for a bad purpose, I was 
arrested, for going there for a good one. The black 
maria was with difficulty driven through the crowd. I 
was put in to be taken to the prison. On the way, one 
of these livery coated police, whom I have often com¬ 
pared to dogs barking for vice, said to me: “Some of 
these days you will get into jail and never get out.” 
I answered; “Some of these days, you will get into hell 
and never get out.” Right here ! want to say there are 
many true men on the police force. Their life is a 
hard one, always mixed up with crime, crime. Paul 
said: “Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt 
good manners.” I Cor. 15:33.) A reporter came to 
my cell that night and said: “Mrs. Nation, I expect 
this will go pretty hard with you, they have brought 
a state case against you, they have sworn out a com¬ 
plaint that you were raising a riot.” I felt no con¬ 
cern about this, God had said he would “stand by me 
In that jail there was a cruel jailer. One poor man 
had his head all cut up from having this jailer throw 
keys at him. He cursed some prisoners after I got 
there and I called out, “What do you mean by cursing 
these prisoners, if I hear that repeated, I will make 
complaint to the authorities, you are hired here to 
serve and wait on these prisoners and treat them 
mercifully.” He growled something and I heard no 
more cursing. 

The next morning I was brought before the mayor 
and chief of police. I found that some one was there 
to bail me out so I could give my afternoon lecture. 
This was an old judge that had stopped at the same 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 'S'Zh 

hotel I had. The mayor said: “Mrs. Nation we are 
not going to allow you to come to our city and turn 
things up-side-down as you have in other places, the 
whole city was in an uproar last night.” I replied: 
“What for.” He said: “Because you started out to 
raise a disturbance.” I said: “Now, Mr. Speer, I went 
down there on Market street where those poor moth¬ 
ers’ girls are, they have had nobody to go down there 
to tell them of their lost condition. Suppose your two 
girls were down there, would you think anybody was 
raising a disturbance if some gray-haired grandmother 
was to go down there and try to get them to leave that 
awful life of death and misery?” Mr Speer said: 
“These things have to be, we have to have segregated 
vice.” I said: “Now I do not believe these things 
have to be; I know they do not have to be, if you think 
this, is it not right to give your own daughters? Some¬ 
body’s daughters have to be given.” I could see that 
this man had a heart, that he was moved, and perplex¬ 
ed. I said: “Mr. Speer, why don’t you do like the 
mayor in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I was arrested 
there for almost the same thing, the mayor told the 
police to tell me to go to my hotel if the crowd got too 
large. He had me released.” Mr. Speer called the 
chief, and said: “Captain, let this woman go, tear up 
that bond.” And I saw tears in his eyes when he said 
this. What became of the officers’ oath that I was in¬ 
citing a riot? 

I have spoken before of my dear and only child, 
married to A. D. McNabb of Richmond, Texas, and in 
the course of fifteen years she was the mother of eight 
children. This was a severe tax on this nervous, weak 


326 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


woman who was not blest in being well born, for 
neither father nor mother were in a condition to be 
such when she was born. Begotten by a drunken 
father, conceived by a heart broken mother, who had 
never been taught that she could curse her own off¬ 
spring before it was born, neither did she understand 
the holy mission of motherhood and how above every¬ 
thing else it should be guarded by the tenderest care, 
especially by the mother herself. Oh! the untold sor¬ 
row that ignorance entails. “The people go wrong 
more from lack of thought than from lack of heart.” 
This mother child of mine became a wreck. Every 
time I made a visit, I saw there would be a crisis, and 
it came. In the fall of 1905. I got a letter from her 
husband, saying that Charlien had been judged in¬ 
sane, and she was then in the sanitarium in San An¬ 
tonio, Texas, until a place could be made for her in 
the asylum in Austin, and that he, (her husband,) 
would put her there as soon as he could. I could not 
go to Texas at that time, was in the East filling dates. 
I wrote that I would pay her expenses in the sanitar¬ 
ium, and that I would come as soon as possible. When 
I went there I saw she was not a subject for the insane 
asylum. I telephoned her husband at Richmond and 
said to him, I want my child, let me take her I will be 
responsible. He refused to let me take her. I was 
paying over $25.00 a week and I was powerless to 
take her away. I called him up again and said, I will 
not pay her expenses here any longer. He called up 
Dr. Moody and told him to take her to the asylum at 
Austin, I went with her there. Dr. Worsham, the 
superintendent told me that it was no place for my 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION, 


327 


child, but that her husband had forbidden him to let 
me have her, and that he did not dare let me take her, 
but he advised me to let her stay there awhile then I 
could place her in a boarding house in the city and if 
she could stay there a month then I could come and 
take my child away. I did this and got my child in 
my own possession and she came by herself to Okla¬ 
homa, where I boarded her with a relative. Then I 
took her to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a while and 
when I moved to Washington, I took her with me. 
My poor child was a great sorrow and care. She need¬ 
ed constant attention and she had a great craving for 
stimulents which I had to guard her against, she 
.seemed to have no control over herself. For many 
reasons I saw it was not safe to leave her alone so I 
took her to Dr. Richard Gundy’s Sanitarium near 
Baltimore, only thirty miles from Washington where 
I can visit her often. God has been good enough to 
give me the means to keep her there thus far and I 
am now making provision so that after my death she 
will never have to go to an insane asylum. I have 
taken her to see her children twice in the meantime 
and had her two oldest daughters come to see her. 
This has been a great expense to me but it is a consola¬ 
tion to care for this precious child of mine, a result 
of my ignorance and sin in allowing a drunkard to be 
her father, besides being about as unfit to be a mother 
as he was a father. I have drunk this bitter cup to 
the dregs. Oh, may this life history of mine be a 
light-house that will keep many from the breakers! 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

WASHINGTON.-SPEAKING IN CONVENTION HALL.- 

PICTURE OF THE HOME GIVEN ME BY MR. DON SAN¬ 
FORD.-WASHINGTON LAWLESSNESS.-ARRESTED AND 

FINED.-CONFINED IN WORK HOUSE.-PROVIDENTIAL¬ 

LY RELEASED. 

In the fall of 1906 I felt a call to go to Washington, 
I did not know exactly what it was for, only it was 
Washington, Washington on to Washington. I lec¬ 
tured on the way in the large cities, got several tele¬ 
grams to come to Atlanta, Ga. I was very anxious to 
do this but it seems as if something said you must go 
to Washington. My last telegram sent to Atlanta to 
Joe D. Glass of the Electric Theatre who offered 
me $500.00 for one week was this, “The Holy 
Ghost leads on to Washington and to Washington I 
am going.’' I lectured at Knoxsville, Tennessee, the 
mothers said to me: “What can we do to help close 
the saloons.” I answered: “One thing, you can do, 
keep the children home from school on election day 
and take them down on the street, stay there all day. 
pin a motto on them saying, “vote for me.” And this 
they did, they took their dinners and their children and 
also their banners saying, “Vote for mamma and me.” 
They played and sang, the men seeing their wives and 
children could not help but ask themselves, shall I vote 
for them or for the saloons. Of course the women and 
children were a more powerful argument than any¬ 
thing the saloon keeper could do or say. That city 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


329 


went two-thousand dry, forty saloons were closed. 
How true it is, “that the seed of the woman shall 
bruise the serpents head/’ (Gen. 3.) 

I got to Washington at holiday time. There are 
a great many missions in the city and good con¬ 
secrated workers, many of these came to me, and 
asked me what they could do to assist me. I said, get 
a place for me to speak in. The missions were small, 
some of them closed against me. I tried to hire a hall, 
at last Brother Little, of the Gospel Army said: “There 
is but one chance and that is, Convention Hall, which 
is $150.00 a day. I said this is out of the question, I 
had then less than $175.00 in cash. I waited four 
days, praying and fasting, feeling very miserable and 
depressed. Oh, what a load was over me, at last I 
called Brother Little and said, take this $150.00 and se¬ 
cure Convention Hall, but do not tell them who wants 
it until after you get the contract. I feared I would 
be refused it also. I then got some small cards, the 
size of a business card saying: 

“I speak at Convention Hall next Sunday, at 3 :30 
to men only; also at night at 7 :30 to everybody, you 
are cordialy invited. Your loving ‘Home Defender/ 
Carry A. Nation/' 

These dear, good friends of mine scattered these 
little cards in restaurants, department stores, saloons 
and hotels. Sunday afternoon I had perhaps eight 
hundred men present, but at night the place was almost 
full, it seats about seven thousand people. I took col¬ 
lections. At night when it was counted, we found that 
the collections paid for the hall and all the other ex¬ 
penses, and a donation of $30.00 was given me at the 


330 THE USE AND NEED OF 

close. I now saw the reason why I could not get a 
smaller hall, God intended that I should come before 
that crowd. The very idea of a woman coming to 
Washington City, hiring Convention Hall and giving 
free lectures, attracted the people. “Oh, the depth 
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge 
of God, how unsearchable are His judgments, and His 
ways past finding out.” I had with me at that meeting 
a whiskey flask that had been sent me from Chicago 
by a friend, with Mr. Roosevelt’s picture on it. I held 
it up before that vast audience in Washington and 
said: “Here is a whiskey flask with Theodore Roose¬ 
velt’s 'picture on it, the most appropriate place I have 
ever seen it in, in my life.” There was a ripple of 
laughter, but no hisses as I had expected. I find that 
Mr. Roosevelt is most popular where he is least known. 

Judge Webber, the congressman from Elyria, Ohio, 
was at the meeting. He came to the stafid after the 
lecture was over and said: “I want to call to see you.” 
I told him where I was stopping. Next morning he 
and his wife called, he gave me $5.00 for my work. 
This Mr. Webber is the congressman who introduced 
the bill into Congress to prohibit saloons in the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia. He said: “Carry Nation you are 
right and you will win.” After this I held several 
meetings in different places in the District. I was also 
invited to speak to the W. C. T. U. in their quarters, 
although when I first went there a reporter interview¬ 
ed the district president, and she said she did not 
think Carry Nation would be invited to speak at the 
W. C. T. U. meeting. She is now one of my best 
friends and has asked me to speak at several places in 



THIS IS A PICTURE OF MY HOME IN WASHINGTON CITY, 217 D- ST. 
N. W, WHERE I PUBLISH THE “HATCHET/” AND WHERE YOU CAN 
GET THIS BOOK, “THE USE AND NEED OF THE LIFE OF CARRY A. 
NATION.” I AM STANDING TO THE RIGHT, TWO FRIENDS IN THE 
BACK, AND MR. DON SANFORD AND WIFE ARE TO THE LEFT, THE 
PARTIES WHO HAVE OF ALL OTHERS GIVEN ME THE GREATEST MATER¬ 
IAL ASSISTANCE THAT THE CAUSE OF PROHIBITION MAY GO FOR¬ 
WARD, AND WHERE I CAN BE AT THE HEAD AND FRONT IN THIS 
PROHIBITION WAR. THE TIME WILL COME THAT BO IH HE THAT 
SOWETH AND HE THAT REAPETH MAY REJOICE TOGETHER. Joll)l 

4:36. 











































332 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


the district. At one of these meetings a man walked 
'•up to the front leaning on a cane. He was about sixty 
years old with a good kind face. He said to me in an 
undertone: “If I had known where you were when 
they first put you in jail, I would have sent you $50.00, 
for the smashing in Kansas was the greatest move ever 
made against the liquor traffic.” I replied: “It is not 
too late to help me yet.” He rode home with me on 
the cars and said: “I will see you in the morning.” 
Sure enough he took me down to 217 D. street, showed 
me a furnished flat and said: “I will give you this for 
a home for five years, free of rent.” This was in an¬ 
swer to my prayers, many had said to me: “Come to 
Washington and publish your magazine here.” I said 
I cannot see how I can do that, unless God will open 
the way, and he did this. This man’s name is Mr. Don 
Sanford, Washington, D. C. 

This God-given home has been a haven of rest to 
me, I have an office, two bedrooms, a dining room and 
a kitchen, besides other conveniences. This is the 
greatest help that I have ever had from any source. 
He gave this to me because he is a thorough sym¬ 
pathizer with the prohibition movement, and did it for 
the cause. I want all the prohibitionistsHo know this 
and ask God to bless this man. 

So I moved the “Hatchet” to Washington, the head 
of the Nation. We have been cutting off the tail of 
the serpent long enough. It would be foolish to try 
to kill a serpent by cutting off its tail, we must smash 
the viper on the head. It is in Washington City. We 
have been cutting off the tail by making the counties 
and states for prohibition. On to Washington, must 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


333 


be the cry, and when the people demand of their repre¬ 
sentatives in Washington that they cancel the licenses, 
which can be done at any Congress. It was first li¬ 
censed there, there is where the mischief began, there 
is where the mischief continues, and there is where 
the mischief must be stopped. 

SEEN IN THE CAPITAL OF AMERICA. 

The most prominent thing that I see on the streets 
of the city, is an advertisement of Anheuser Busch, 
every night it flames out streaks of blood and fire. One 
can imagine the fires of hell and the blood of the slain. 

There are five hundred and twenty bar-rooms; one 
hundred and forty wholesale liquor houses, besides 
hundreds of houses of prostitution that are unlicensed, 
where liquor is sold. These harlot houses are in a part 
of the city, from the postoffice and White House 
grounds about six blocks. “Hooker’s Division,” be¬ 
cause Gen. Hooker camped there once upon a time. 
This Division is devoted to the harlots and harlot mak¬ 
ers, these women are not considered criminals, and do 
not pay any fines. 

We went down in this division and saw girls with 
short dresses on, and boys with knee pants. These 
facts will give cause of alarm to all decent people hear¬ 
ing of them. 

President Roosevelt with three commissioners has 
power to close up all vice in this city. H. B. F. Mc¬ 
Farland is Chairman, this man belongs to the Endea¬ 
vor Society, and Y. M. C. A. and a teacher of a Bible 
class in the Congregational church. 

We attended some of the Sunday Theatres there the 


334 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


five and ten cent, kind, with moving pictures. The pic¬ 
tures shown were most of gambling and drinking, sui¬ 
cide and holdups. Hundreds of little boys from seven 
years old and up attend these shows. Christian work¬ 
ers are restricted in their work on the streets, to cer¬ 
tain hours, certain places and certain days; but the 
harlots and indecent shows can run all day and night, 
Sunday or any other day. 

I never saw so much tobacco and cigarette poison¬ 
ing among men and boys as here. The Capital is reek¬ 
ing with it. 


MY ATTEMPT TO SEE MR. ROOSEVELT. 

Shortly after moving to Washington I took two 
friends with me and was walking up to the entrance 
to the wing of the White House, where I hoped to 
have a conference with Theodore Roosevelt, when, be¬ 
fore I got within ten steps of the door, a man hastily 
came out and stood in the middle of the walk and said: 
“Mrs. Nation, your business is closed with this office.” 
I said: “Who told you to tell me that?” “Never mind,” 
he said. I replied: “I suppose that door is closed 
against me, a representative woman and mother. Any 
thief, cigarette fiend, brewer, distiller, or gambler can 
go in there, but a representative of America’s mothers 
and homes is shut out. That house does not belong 
either to Roosevelt or to Loeb. I have some import¬ 
ant questions to ask Mr. Roosevelt. It is common talk 
that his daughter, Alice, smokes cigarettes, and we 
American women, object to being represented by such 
a character abroad.” This door guard asked me not 
to make a lecture there. I said: “I have free speech 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


335 


and shall express my views. I am speaking the truth.” 
The man turned to one of the gentlemen who was with 
me, Gen. Mobley of the Gospel Army, and said: 
“Please have her go away.” No attempt was made to 
arrest me as two years before when I was there. After 
declaring it an outrage to the American citizens that 
the good mothers were shut out I turned and left. All 
nations welcome but Carry. 

IN THE WORK HOUSE IN WASHINGTON CITY. 

In November, 1907, I was standing on the porch of 
the postoffice in Washington waiting for it to stop 
raining. Because of the rain some others were stand¬ 
ing there who were smoking cigarettes. I complained 
of the outrage of having to smell the poisonous breath 
that they blew in my face, for the cigarette fiends take 
delight in being as unmanly as they can. They came 
as near as they dared to me, I would move from one 
side to the other, telling them of the injury to them¬ 
selves and to me. A policeman passed by, one of the 
kind that is a greater friend to indecency than to de¬ 
cency. He said to me in an insulting manner: “Mad¬ 
am, walk on.” I replied: “I am not going out in this 
rain.” He said: “You are drawing a crowd.” I re¬ 
plied: “Disperse the crowd. I wish you would arrest 
these men who will not let me draw a breath of God’s 
pure atmosphere, I tried to get away from them but 
they crowded around and I am assaulted, for to blow 
a dirty breath in anybody’s face is an assault.” He 
said not a word to them, but grabbed me by the arm 
and dragged me down the steps, saying: “I will take 
you to the police station.” He took me across the 


336 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


street where there was a police station, and handed 
me over to the authorities. I said: “What am I ar¬ 
rested for?” No one answered. I asked this question 
several times. One said: “You will know in the morn¬ 
ing.” As usual I was asked my name, residence, age 
and occupation. When I was first asked these ques¬ 
tions in Washington, I said my occupation was that of 
a servant of God. They wrote down the word “ser¬ 
vant.” I was not asked this question again. I was 
asked to pay $20.00 collateral. I refused, saying that, 
“I have paid my last fine.” This collateral was to 
allow me to go home and to appear if I wanted to, or 
to stay away if I wanted to. I was taken to the house 
of detention. 

This was the fourth time I had been arrested in 
Washington City. The first I have related in my book, 
it was for “disturbing the Senate,” as they said, the 
last three times was for about the same offense. I had 
gone into the saloons and told men of their evil ways, 
told them to get out of that business, they were 
going to hell and taking thousands of others with 
them. I was tried before Judge Maloney, who was 
very abrupt and severe, and fine me $25.00. Then I 
was tried before Judge Kimball, who was very kind 
and fined me $5.00. 

I was taken before Judge Bundy the next morning; 
I was held in the iron cage where the blacks and 
whites, the cigarette fiends, two morphine fiends, two 
men with their heads bruised and cut for being “drunk 
and disorderly” were. I looked at my fellow prison¬ 
ers and I could not help but consider the “smasher” 
and the “smashed.” What a crowd of degraded men 


21 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


337 


and women were by me. Oh, the curse and misery, 
humanity will bring on themselves through drink and 
other dopes. I always see in the drunkard the moth¬ 
er’s broken heart, after years of tender watchfulness to 
prevent harm to the boy. I see her gray head bowed 
with grief. These men were mothers’ boys, and I felt 
as if I were that mother. And these daughters that 
had been snared into these pits on Missouri avenue, 
and Hooker’s division, those places in Washington, 
places of rottenness and death, that Mr. Roosevelt 
could close up in a day, and here were the results. Our 
daughters that should be “corner stones, polished after 
the similitude of a palace.” (Ps. 144:12.) The officer 
appeared against me and brought the charge of being 
disorderly, the truth was he had arrested the orderly 
one and had refused to arrest the disorderly ones. I 
find that it is not disorderly to be a prostitute in Wash¬ 
ington, it is not disorderly to run a saloon and make 
drunkards, but it is disorderly to tell them of it. 

Judge Bundy was on the bench, he was very kind 
and began by saying: “Mrs. Nation you are very much 
opposed to smoking, I am myself, but we have an or¬ 
dinance in the cky that allows men to smoke in the 
street cars and on the streets and other public places, 
and you must make no objections to them exercising 
this privilege. We know you are a good woman and 
we do not want to get you into trouble, will you sign 
a bond that you will not make any more trouble of 
this kind?” I said: “Judge, I have no lawyer, I want 
you to allow me to plead my own cause, I want to 
quote to you some of the decisions of the supreme 
court, will you let me read them?” Judge said, “yes.” I 


338 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


had my Bible under my cape, I drew it out and said: 
“Judge you know that most of the criminals that come 
here are addicted to smoking cigarettes, you know it is 
an awful sin. Now I want to be a real Christian, I 
want to do what God tells me to do. You are a Chris¬ 
tian, don’t you think, I ought to obey God ? God com¬ 
mands me to ‘cry aloud and spare not, and show My 
people their sins.’ ‘Lift up thy voice like a trumpet.’ 
(Isa. 58:1.) You see here I am commanded to cry 
aloud about sin and not to whisper about it. Also in 
Ezekiel, third chapter and 18th verse; “When I say 
unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou giv- 
est him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked 
from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked 
man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I re¬ 
quire at thine hand.” 19th verse, “Yet if thou warn 
the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor 
from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but 
thou hast delivered thy soul.’ So you see this com¬ 
pels me to warn, rebuke and exhort. How can I save 
my soul and keep quiet about this sin ? God says: ‘Go 
and declare unto this people whether they will hear or 
whether they will forbear.’ (Isa. 2:7.) How can you 
punish me for obeying God’s commandments? You 
have an ordinance in Washington that prevents me 
from obeying the law of God, if I obey your law I 
lose my soul, if I obey God’s law, 1 go to jail. I had 
rather go to jail than to hell.” Judge seemed very 
nervous and said: “Mrs. Nation I haven’t time to talk 
with you any longer but I wish you would sign that 
bond; we do not want to send you down there among 
the drunks and thieves.” I said: “Judge I cannot sign 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


339 


that bond/’ The City Attorney was a decided friend 
of the lawless element and said: “Judge you must fine 
this woman, you cannot possibly let her escape, we 
have been annoyed with her long enough and she will 
encourage a lot of lawlessness.” Judge said: “Mrs. 
Nation I will have to fine you $25.00 (this meant sev¬ 
enty-five days in jail, three days for every dollar,) I 
said, very well we will see who will come out best in 
this trial. It seemed as if God said to me: “Don’t you 
worry, you go to the work-house for my sake.” I was 
taken to the work-house with several other women, 
all of them for the dope habit. The usual questions 
were asked, name, residence, etc. We were taken to 
a room where we were commanded to take off our 
clothes, take a bath, and then we were given our work 
house garments. The underwear was blue and white 
checked gingham, very coarse, the outside garment 
was a mother-hubbard and of a very heavy overall 
stuff with an outside pocket on the right side. I was 
taken into the sewing room and my work was to patch 
and mend and work button holes in the overalls as the 
women did all the sewing for the men in the work- 
house. There were then about four hundred and fifty 
men in their quarters. There were seventy-nine col¬ 
ored women and fourteen white women in their quar¬ 
ters. I resolved to make the most that I could out of 
this confinement in benefitting my fellow prisoners. I 
comforted and encouraged them, they came to me with 
their woes and I tried to bring consolation to them in 
every case, telling them of their faithful friend Jesus. 
Five of these women took the pledge never to drink. I 
felt as if I was at the very place that God wanted me 


340 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


to be and I thank God for the experience. I would 
never have known what it was to be in a work-house, 
had I never been an inmate. When the day came to 
do my scrubbing, I got my bucket scrubbing brush, 
soap and cloth and got down on my knees like the rest 
and did my scrubbing just as well as any of them. I 
never allowed myself to murmur and complain at any¬ 
thing, I did not feel like it for my fellow prisoners 
were in a worse position than I. 

I have no complaints to make of my treatment or 
that of any of the rest with but one exception, which 
I will speak of later in this chapter. I had occasion to 
depend largely on God for wisdom to comfort these 
poor people. Whenever the woman overseer stepped 
out of the room, these women would pour their real 
or imaginary trouble in my ears, I would remind them 
of the cleanness of the place and the refuge from the 
cold weather and the good food, and in many ways I 
know I lightened their burdens. I was allowed to have 
my Bible with me, I quoted scripture to them. My 
fellow prisoners seemed more like sisters to me, we 
were all companions in sorrow. 

Gapt. Zinkham, the overseer of the public poor- 
house and work-house called to see me several times, 
and he with the rest was very kind. He said to me 
at one time: “Mrs. Nation, you are trying to do some 
mission work here, I have tried myself, but I find it 
almost useless, these very people have been coming 
here for years and they will continue to come.” I said: 
“I will tell you the reason they will continue to come, 
‘yesterday morning a basket of dope was brought 
through the work-house giving each one a plug of vile 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


341 


black tobacco. Each of these poor inmates took one 
except myself, matches were furnished them that they 
might smoke. The only thing that I can complain of 
as unjust and contrary to Christianity in this work- 
house is to give away that vile stuff that feeds the de¬ 
sire for dope and when they leave here, that terrible 
craving has not been allowed to die and these poor, 
nervous, helpless slaves avail themselves of the first 
opportunity to obtain their favorite dopes, and Capt. 
Zinkham, you are a minister of the Gospel and you are 
smelling of that dope yourself, do you think this is 
right? Did you ever go before the commissioners?” 

He said he had never brought this question up, well, 
I said: “I am going to do itwhich I did and also told 
some members of the W. C. T. U. that they ought to 
investigate this. Thousands of dollars are being spent 
every year to dope the inmates of the work-house in 
Washington City. After I had been there five days. 
Captain Zinkham came to my door and said: “Mrs. 
Nation were you expecting any money from any 
source?” I said, “No,” and he told me there had been 
wired me $28.00 from the Holiness Association in 
Evansville, Indiana. “Well,” I said, “that is for my 
fine, you will please collect it and pay my fine and I 
leave here tomorrow.” I had stayed there just as long 
as God wanted me to stay. I had seen what God want¬ 
ed me to see. Three weeks from that time I had some 
dates down in Kentucky, and I went to Evansville, 
Indiana. Those holiness people arranged a meeting 
for me in their own hall. One man at the close of a 
lecture said: “Carry Nation I want to tell you how we 
came to pay your fine; we had a meeting here and we 


342 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


were talking about prohibition in Oklahoma. One 
man who was a stranger, rose in the back of the hall 
and said: ‘Yes we have prohibition in Oklahoma and 
the one who assisted us in getting prohibition, is now 
in the work-house in Washington City, because she 
would not pay a fine of $25.00.’ Instantly a man 
jumped up and said: ‘Here is a dollar to help pay her 
fine.’ In three minutes $28.00 was on the table. We 
wired this to you; I never saw anything that was more 
providential than this, for no one was thinking about 
you and your name had not been called.” 

We had a glorious meeting, I have never seen a more 
healthy, vigorous Holiness Association than is in 
Evansville, and God used just such a set of people, 
precious holy ones, to pay my fine. He says: “You 
shall not stand before mean men only, but you shall 
stand before kings.” 

In the fall of 1907 I got off the train in Grand Cen¬ 
tral depot, New York City; a reporter met me and 
handed me this telegram: “David Nation, husband of 
Carry Nation, died here today.” Dated Medicine 
Lodge, Kansas. I could hardly believe it, not having 
heard he was sick, but it was true. Sick only a few 
hours, not a relative near. Would to God I had been 
there to do something for him. Seven months before 
that he had gotten a divorce from me. Well I shall 
meet him “at that day when the secrets of all hearts 
shall be made manifest.” (I Cor. 14:25.) I had a head 
and foot stone put to his grave which is in the Med¬ 
icine Lodge cemetery in Kansas. I am glad God is 
our Judge. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


HOLDING UP MY JULY ISSUE OF THE HATCHET. TRIAL 

AND ARREST IN DALLAS. TEXAS.-A TRIBUTE FROM AN 

OLD CITIZEN OF CHATTANOOGA.—DURHAM FACTORY IN 
NORTH CAROLINA AND EDUCATING METHODIST 
PREACHERS.-THE DEADLY CIGARETTE. 

In my July, 1906, issue of “The Hatchet,” I wrote 
a letter to little boys in which I warned them against 
the vices of self abuse telling them the consequences 
of such a dangerous practice. 

My enemies, who are always on the alert, to get me 
in trouble made complaint to the postoffice at Washing- 
ton and the issue was held up. A warrant was out for 
my arrest. I was in Texas and was notified to return for 
trial, I said I was not after anybody, and the parties 
that wanted me could come after me. I was in the 
depot at Clebourne, Texas, when a very nice old gen¬ 
tleman whispered to me, “I want to speak to you I am 
a United States marshal.” I said: “I understand, and 
am ready to go with you.” I was never arrested in as 
respectful and elegant manner as by this Mr. R. M. 
Walden of Dallas, Texas. 

Mr. Walden told me I could go to Guthrie or have 
the trial in Dallas, I decided to be tried in the latter, on 
the way we met in the* car two gentlemen who lived in 
Dallas, Col. S. E. Moss and B. M. Burgher. These 
men said to me, “We will go your bond so you will 
not have to go to jail.” We got to Dallas between 
nine and ten that night. They woke up the United 


344 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


States Commissioner, A. W. May and the bond was 
made and I left at seven next morning to fill a date. 
The trial was in September. The witnesses came from 
Guthrie, and the case was called. The United States 
attorney after stating the case said: “This article can 
not be called obscene.” The. dear old commissioner, 
his name I forget, said: “No, it is not, it is purity it¬ 
self, and there is no case against Mrs. Nation.” 

It cost me a $50.00 lawyer’s fee and the expense of 
one witness, Rev. Charles Mitchel, but “In this world 
ye shall have tribulations, fear not, I have overcome 
the world.” 

A WORD OR TWO FROM AN OLD CITIZEN OF CHATTA¬ 
NOOGA, TENN., IN COMMENDATION OF CARRY NATION. 

To the Chattanooga Times. 

Allow me to make a few remarks in the passing of 
the “Hatchet Woman,” born of conversion with our 
citizens. 

Yes, some will say she is too aggressive; that she 
unsexes herself; that she disgraces motherhood. And 
I see that some poor weak-kneed clergy are rushing 
around to tell God and the newspapers all about what 
a shame it is for her to be carrying on so, and what 
they would do if she would come into their district. 
Of such it has been said: “Because thou art neither 
hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.’-’ (Rev. 
3:16.) 

Now let me call your attention to the Maid of Or¬ 
leans, whose aggressiveness removed the brutal and 
oppressive hand of England from the body politic of 
France. She died a most horrible death by the hands 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


345 


of human brutes, among whom were cowardly priests. 
But was it in vain she died ? Go ask the lowest peas¬ 
ant on the vine clad hills of La Belle France. 

Recall, if you will, Florence Nightingale with her 
little axe chopping down the sentry-guarded doors of 
hospital supplies in behalf of the wounded and dying 
in the Crimean war. Did she unsex herself? Go ask 
the English soldiers as they lie in the trenches or on 
the barren copse of Africa today. 

See John Howard smothering in his dark, foul 
prison pen from which he escapes with loss of health. 
Was he a little too aggressive when he broke down the 
prison doors and exposed the horrors of the English 
prison system ? Go ask the criminal life of continental 
Europe today. 

But we need not go away from home in order to 
find those who have died that others might live. Our 
own land bears evidence of such. 

Was John Brown a little too aggressive as he lay 
mangled and bleeding in jail, preparing for a miser¬ 
able death on the gallows for American slavery. If 
so I ask you go read: 

“A righteous sentence writ in burnished rows of 
steel.” Go ask 8,000,000 blacks in our cotton fields, 
workshops, schools and streets. Ask 2,000,000 of our 
brave boys in blue and gray if they have died in vain. 
Your answer comes back in our teeming cities, in our 
magnificent mines and the buzz and whirr of our 
manufactories all over our beautiful southland where 
only cotton and corn fields held sway. 

They made it possible for such things to be. Such 
as these are inspired spirits, called of God, and he 


3-16 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


never makes mistakes in selecting proper means for 
the grand work of lifting a nation into higher and 
happier conditions. Everyone of these have erected 
a living monument to their daring and suffering for 
the cause of humanity. 

And now a word in behalf of this chosen woman, 
Mrs. Carry Nation. I admit there must' be an awful 
condition in any Christian community that requires 
such a sacrifice. The crashing of glass, the shouts of 
jostling hordes, the hurrying feet of the police and one 
woman with her little hatchet is a horrid spectacle for 
the so-called highest civilized and Christianized nation 
to witness. But it is a cowardly, a criminal condition, 
costing more lives and money than any war or epi¬ 
demic of disease, one which the state has failed to deal 
honorably and bravely with; one which politicians call 
a gilded theory. 

She may lose her life in the work of redemption 
most cruelly, as others before her. She is caricatured, 
insulted, held up to ridicule most outrageously by 
those whose brains are not developed sufficient to con¬ 
ceive they ever had a mother, or, conceiving, have any 
knowledge of the holiness of motherhood. But that 
grand soul will go marching on through every city, 
town and hamlet over our broad land till all shall be 
brought to understand, “That whatsoever a man sow- 
eth that shall he also reap.” 

Let me assure you that such grand spirits do not 
stop to count the cost of life in their work of uplifting 
suffering ones of earth life. Such only “hear the 
voices’' and are fully prepared for the sacrifice. 

Man will not make the sacrifice. He is and ever has 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


347 


been a coward when his pocketbook and passions are 
at stake. Pocketbook and passion beat justice, truth 
and mercy. Pocketbook and passion beat the organ’s 
grand peal and the sweet, low dronings of the clergy. 
Yes; passion and pocketbook beat prayers, tears and 
coffins. All, all go down in a perfect wreck before the 
whiskey monster. 

God bless, aye, He will bless the woman who defies 
recreant judges, juries, jails and revolvers for her God 
given right to protect her home from the monster evil. 
The pulpit and pew may cry out for shame. Judges 
and juries may be purchased. Politicians may com¬ 
bine with whiskey rings, “But know thou that for all 
these things, God shall bring thee unto judgment.” 
My full faith is that she will outride all legal storms, 
ridicule and abuse and give a living impetus to the 
“white ribboned” cause, peace and plenty to the drunk¬ 
ard’s wife and suffering children, such as has not been 
seen in the past fifty years. 

To me it is but another struggle of the soul to rise 
to higher and happier conditions, a death struggle in 
which good shall come from all of it and future citi¬ 
zens shall wonder why such things ever existed. 

I thank her in behalf of tens of thousands of boys 
who will soon be coming upon the stage of action only 
to be bankrupt in spirit, mind and body if the struggle 
is not made. I thank her in behalf of tens of thousands 
of mothers who today are suffering spiritually, mental¬ 
ly and physically all over our land because the gilded 
monster is allowed to exist in our midst. But most of 
all I thank her for showing to the world the grand, 
moral strength of motherhood when necessary to call 


348 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


it into action, as seen, heard and felt at the auditorium 
last Sabbath afternoon. 

All hail then to Mrs. Nation. I say lead on, grand 
soul! the way grows clearer. 

D. G. Curtis. 


IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

We spent the last half of the month of July, 1907, 
in North Carolina, spoke at Greensboro, Graham, Gas¬ 
tonia, Raleigh, Burlington, Hickory, High Point and 
Durham, besides other places. At this last named 
place are the plants of the world-wide American To¬ 
bacco Company, two immense buildings, one of them 
turning out every week on an average 107,200 pounds 
of smoking tobacco called “Duke’s Mixtureand th^ 
devil’s mixture it is, of dope, corruption, filth and di¬ 
sease. On one’s arrival the terrible smell was in the air. 
Thousands of gallons of rum are used. All these huge 
tanks are staked around the buildings. We called at 
the “Bull Durham” ( a slander on the bull,) but used 
because of the animal portrayed by their pictures, but 
were not allowed to look over the plant. The manager 
refused to tell of the ingredients used to manufacture 
this poison. The bull is on everything about the fac¬ 
tory. Of course no bull will touch this weed, but it 
suits the Dukes to advance the lust the name brings 
up. We went past the graveyard and saw the marble 
mausoleum of the old Mr. Duke. We thought that it 
is just, that what we do while we live shall be on our 
tombstones when we die, and what a sight to have seen 
his tomb plastered over with “Bull Durham” and 
“Duke’s Mixture,” it would be no slander to him. The 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


349 


Dukes have endowed Trinity College, where the 
Methodist ministers of North Carolina are educated. 
How would it look to have the “Bull Durham” and 
“Duke’s Mixture” on its walls? Also now they are 
building a Methodist memorial church to the old man 
Duke. One of the windows of this church should be 
decorated with the exploits of this old man who has 
put on foot the most extensive degradation of man¬ 
kind. There is not a brewer or distiller in the United 
States that has degraded mankind as much as this 
“Duke’s Mixture” of vice and filth. If the Methodist 
Episcopal College could accept the endowment from 
a distillery it would be no worse. Of course this is.to 
muzzle the mouths of the ministers and we hear that 
the presiding elders are relegating to the rear the min¬ 
isters that are crying aloud against this lust of tobacco. 
So far as money is concerned one is not to be blamed 
to get and use all the money for God from any source; 
but when such money is used to hush the voice of the 
Holy Spirit, that commands tire condemnation of such, 
then it is a curse, and we can say: “Woe to a city built 
with blood, woe to Trinity College, built with blood. 
If the ministers at Trinity College are educated to de¬ 
nounce the Duke factory as a damning cancer in the 
world; if they so declare their intention to accept the 
money that it may be used to destroy these works of 
the devil, this money could be used without sin. We 
cannot partake of the table of the Lord and 
the table of devils.” The Pharasees that crucified 
our Lord were more consistent, they said, “It is the 
price of blood,” and would not put it in the treasury. 
These Dukes are making the deadly cigarettes and 


350 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


giving away the poisonous paper that our boys may be 
enticed into this worst of vices. This Duke’s Mixture 
is all the works of the devil. Can Trinity College de¬ 
pend on the works of the devil to live? “Must we 
sin that Grace may abound?” We find the churches 
of Durham have officials that are part owners in this 
infernal business. 

Oh, the deadly cigarette. Thank God for the work 
of Miss Lucy Page Gaston, of Chicago. Mr. Roose¬ 
velt has never said a word against this curse, he is 
crying “Army and Navy” and he. knows the difficulty 
in manning the army and navy is the cigarette as it is 
the difficulty in getting young men for any responsi¬ 
ble position. Oh, give us manhood and womanhood. 
We want peace on earth good will to man. This pre¬ 
paration for bloodshed or war is inhuman, it is of 
satan. The volunteer always fought the great battles. 
Words fail me to express my grief at the degradation 
of those I love, those made in the image of God, “And 
except that the Lord had shortened those days no flesh 
should be saved.” (Mark 13:20.) 

As my book is going to press I have just time to tell 
of my arrest in Pittsburg. I was on a street car when 
a man sat in front of me with a masonic pin on, I said 
to Sister Arrowsmith who was with me, “That man is 
wearing a symbol of heathenism and idolatry. He has 
a worshipful master and belongs to an oath bound 
fraternity, we swears to have their tongue cut out, 
their throat cut across, their hearts torn out and given 
to the beasts, their bowels taken out and burned to 
ashes. These oaths originated in hell and unmans 
every one who takes them.” This is blasphemous and 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


351 


some other statements were all true and this man went 
to the police station swore out a warrant to have me 
arrested because I told him what he did and was, pity¬ 
ful man! A woman made him so ashamed of himself 
that he called to his aid the brutal dective, Daily, who 
roughly arrested me, and then proceeded to tell the 
crowd his own woe. Where, O where, can chivalry 
be found, “Justice is fled to brutish hearts, and men 
have lost their reason.” 

I was locked in jail about two hours. I paid a for¬ 
feit of $30, in order to attend my meeting that after¬ 
noon and night at the Pentecostal church. Next morn¬ 
ing I was called before police judge Brady and he gave 
me a sentence of $25 or 30 days in the work house. I 
have said that I would never pay another fine. I don’t 
have to, for dozens of people want to pay them for 
me and the dear women of the W. C. T. U. rushed 
around and paid my fine for me. This arrest and fine 
was for being disorderly enough to speak the truth, 
but I can feel added strength and grace after all these 
persecutions. This is the 33rd time I have been in jail 
for the truth’s sake and, O, Lord, Thy will be done 
through and through by me whatever the cost. Pray 
for me. 

Close to Wichita there is a town called Derbe. They 
were running dives in this little town. Sam Amidon, 
the Country Attorney and Mahan, both of whom I 
mention in my book, the latter the owner of a whole¬ 
sale liquor house, were the prime movers in running 
these dives. The women of Derbe, smashed up these 
places. Amidon and Mahan went down in their auto¬ 
mobile, in great style to arrest and prosecute the “law- 


352 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


abiding women” who met these two men, and they left 
Derbe, with more haste and less style. Sister Myra 
McHenry who was one of the raiders writes it up so 
well that I will insert it here in my book. Sister Mc¬ 
Henry has suffered, perhaps as much as I have, from 
the “rummies” of Kansas, being put in jail many 
times,” for righteousness sake.” 

A FOOT RACE GAME 

WITH EGGS AS THE PROPELLING POWER. 

Oh, Amidon! Oh, Amidon ! yes the word 
has come to me, 

They are smashing our whiskey shop in 
old Derbe. 

We do not need to catch the car— 

For my thoughts are on the saloon bar, 

Rush the “auto” round a whizzing, 

And we’ll go down to Derbe sizzing. 

They jump into their auto fine, 

And Wichita is left behind. 

They went along with might and main, 

The town of Derbe sure to gain; 

They minded not the scorching heat, 

The rabbit’s gait was not more fleet, 

The fields of corn they did not see, 

While on their way to old Derbe, 

The bovine grazing on the hills, 

Verdure of the valleys and the rills, 

Had not the charms for these fellers; 

The mean outlawed whiskey sellers. 

“Ah hah!” They say, “for many years 
O’er Derbe town we’ve been the peers. 


.22 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


353 


Made them think we’re the “only it” 

At this late day will not say “nit.” 

Sam Amidon, the legal light, 

Is always ready for a fight, 

And Mahan by his side you see, 

Came riding into old Derbe. 

Now Derbe is quite a little place; 

And now she boasts a mighty race. 

I’ll tell you how it came about, 

And how Sam Amidon got out; 

And Mahan also took a hand 
Joined the Derbe foot race band. 

Now Sammy in his diamonds bright, 
Made quite a fine imposing sight; 

And this was when he first got there; 
Also before he took his rare— 

It was eggs, and not sirloin steak, 
’Twas eggs, and not a Boston bake. 
And a foot race game with eggs, 

Also with whiskey, beer, and kegs, 
With Mahan hunting for the sands, 
Like the Dodo in Dodo lands. 

His head he’d tuck round and round, 
And then would jump up with a bound, 
Stretched again with mighty power, 
Gained the foot race of the hour. 

The grandest sight I ever saw 
Was Sammy taking his eggs raw. 

He did not say, “your honor, please,” 
As his custom, with grace and ease, 
But pawed the dust up with them feet, 
Cased in patent leathers neat, 


354 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


And none can boast a race well run 
As Mahan and Sam Amidon. 

Eggs forthcoming would not have been, 
Had not these men their nose stuck in. 
They know it now and “nose” it well, 
What kind of eggs at Derbe sell. 

The auto left this town, whizzing, 

Back to Wichita went sizzing. 

And Derbe will her banner wave 
O’er homes made free by mothers brave. 

(MAHAN'S REFRAIN.) 

Oh, am I done! Oh, am I done! 

Oh, yes, the race was fairly won; 

The dust we made was a caution. 

On the way we did some washin’ 

While going down to Derbe town, 

We did not stop to look around, 

And from old Derbe to this place 
We ne’er turned our egg-nogg face. 

Dear Amidon, ’tis all too true, 

That those eggs were anything but new. 
We-’ll learn a lesson from that day, 

And let the women have their way. 

They are worse than all creation, 

Just one solid Carry Nation. 

Farewell, old Derbe, whate’er betide, 

I’ll ne’er forget that auto ride. 

Those women, they are made of stuff, 
The sample of, I’ve had enough. 

Myra McHenry. 


THE DEVIL WITH LIES FOR HIS MORTAR IS BUILDING A LODGE, GRAFT BEING THE CORNER STONE, AND POINTS 
WITH A WINK AT “FREE," WHEN IN TRUTH IT IS “BOUND." THE RESULTS ARE DIVORCED FROM 

CHRIST AND THEIR EARTHLY GUARDIANS, THEIR WIVES. 































































MASONRY AS IT IS. 

(By E. Ronayne and others.) 

MASONRY AS IT IS.-COMPACT OF EVIL.-FOE TO WOMAN 

-EXPERIENCES OF A ROYAL ARCH MASON.-FOE TO 

TRUE MANHOOD.-DRESS OF CANDIDATES.-MASONIC 

PREACHERS.-HORRIBLE DEATH PENALTIES.-PURELY 

ANTI-CHRISTIAN.—ITS OATHS ILLEGAL.-CLAIM OF 

SECRECY A SWINDLE.-ITS CHARITY A FRAUD.- 

SHIELDS CRIMINALS.-A LIE ALL OVER.-SECRECY 

AND SIN. 

“I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the 
synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews al¬ 
ways resort; and in secret have I said nothing” (John 
18 : 20 .) 

If there is one yoke of slavery heavier than another, 
it is the Masonic. If there is one set of men snared 
more than another into cowardice and ahject, hopeless 
thralldrom, that set is the Masons. I rush to their 
rescue, I pity them. I would smash those yokes and 
free them. I would not condemn them as men, some 
of the best and purest men are drawn into this Devil's 
net. Every true man is a victim: he cannot but revolt 
at such a silly and wicked conspiracy against his own 
manhood, his freedom of speech, his true dealings with 
his fellow man, against woman, against the sanctity of 
marriage and, against “the Lord that bought him.” 
Like a man stealer, Satan caught and secured them in 
a most fearful compact of hell, and these murderous 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


357 


oaths, constantly keep before them this menace, that 
if they tell what they do and see in the lodge they are 
forever barred from the confidence of their fellow 
man. This is opposed to God’s law and opposed also 
to the law of man. Suppose twenty men bind them¬ 
selves, knowingly and willingly, to murder all the male 
children in New York. One repents and confesses, the 
nineteen do not. Which would be the better of the 
two? This is not a fair illustration for you know 
nothing of the terrible oaths and obligations, every 
one is forced upon you. The only true course is to re¬ 
pent, confess, and condemn. Hear what God says in 
Leviticus 5 :4, 5, “Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with 
his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that 
a man pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; 
v/hen he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one 
of these. And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in 
one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath 
sinned in that thing.” This makes it a sin to swear as 
you do in the Masonic Lodge; it makes it a sin to keep 
those oaths you took in the Masonic Lodge; makes 
it a sin to compel you to do what God says you must 
not do. Now the death penalties in the lodge are not 
for committing sin, stealing, and lying, and murder, 
but they are for telling the truth about the order. The 
truth is what hurts. Persons have said to me time 
and time again, “Why don’t you confine yourself to 
the liquor traffic and let the secret orders alone?” I 
will tell you why. When an epidemic is in the land we 
destroy the cause; we would not kill a man for get¬ 
ting the small pox, but we kill the small pox for get¬ 
ting the man. The liquor traffic, vice, lust, lies and 


358 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


all crimes are openly condemned. Every one can see 
and taste of the forbidden fruit. "The axe must be 
laid at the root of the tree.” (Matt.* 3 :10.) The roots 
are hidden. When a man swears to conceal the truth 
concerning anything, he swears to lie about it, and the 
root of lies is planted in the heart of man. When a 
man swears to respect the chastity of a certain class 
of women the root of fornication and adultery is plant¬ 
ed in the mind of man. When a man swears to be 
honest with a certain class of men the root of dishon¬ 
esty is planted in the character of man. The state is 
what the individuals are, make a tree good and its fruit 
will be good. “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good 
fruit.” (Matt. 7:18.) Our children are the results of 
ourselves and society; if parents are corrupt in thought 
and deed, the children of course will be, and the State 
will be. From this cause we have a corrupt govern¬ 
ment. The father has his secret organization from 
which his wife, son and daughter are excluded. The 
mother has hers, from which the husband, son and 
daughter are excluded. Can these parents blame these 
sons and daughters for having secrets from which they 
are excluded? Thus and thus, is confidence destroyed 
in the sacred precincts of the home and reach, from 
the home, to Church and State. Perfect unity and do¬ 
mestic tranquillity is shattered, evil grows, and the 
roots produce the tree. If secret orders are good every 
one should know of all this good. If the motive is 
right there is no need of concealment. 

The Devil is using the same method to kill human¬ 
ity that we use to kill rats. We make a mixture of 
good and bad, and we are sure to give more good than 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


359 


bad. The bread is the largest quantity, it disguises 
the poison, and they are caught with this deception. 
The poison kills before the bread could possibly do 
any good. Jesus said: “You are of your father, the 
Devil, and the lust of your father you will do for he 
was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in 
the truth.” (John 8:44.) Does not a man lie when 
he allows himself to be blindfolded, with a hoodwink 
and then says he is seeking light? Is not lying and 
murder a prominent thing in the initiation of a Mason? 

Masonry is a mixture, of the different idolatrous 
worship of the sun. They have their “worshipful 
master” which represents the sun. Is this not blas¬ 
phemy to call any man worshipful master? We are 
forbidden to call any man master, “one is your Master, 
even Christ.” (Matt. 23:10.) Is it not the vilest blas¬ 
phemy to even suggest that Jesus Christ would ever 
enter a Masonic Lodge ? Hear what He says 
about this: “This is the condemnation, that light has 
come into the world, and men love darkness rather 
than light because their deeds were evil, for everyone 
that doeth evil hateth the light; neither cometh to the 
light lest his deeds should be reproved, but he that 
doeth the truth cometh to the light that his deeds may 
be made manifest that they are wrought in God.” 
(John 3 :19-22.) Truth loves the light and hates dark¬ 
ness, falsehood loves the darkness and hates light. 
There is nothing that a Masonic lodge is so antag¬ 
onistic to, as light and truth. Their horrible death 
penalties are not from committing crime but from tell¬ 
ing the truth. This is as ancient as the Devil who 
formed the secret lodge in heaven when he made war 


360 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


with God and was thrown over the battlements of 
heaven and is now down here on earth doing his old 
tricks. 

The W. C. T. U. should organize a crusade against 
this fortification of evil that is directly opposed to wo¬ 
man and her influence over man. A lodge divorces 
a man from home ties and takes him away from his 
wife just at the time he should be there, in the even¬ 
ing. All the millions of dollars that go into the Mason 
lodge is a robbery of the American homes. Women 
have suffered untold agonies from their husbands 
being away from them. It causes weeping women, it 
causes jealousy. Read the 8th chapter of Ezekiel 
from the 5th to the 17th verses and you will see there 
a description of a secret lodge. You seldom find a 
Mason at the prayer meeting. You never find spirit¬ 
ual ministers Masons. They do not give one-tenth as 
much to charity as dangles from their watch fobs in 
disgraceful signs. The sign of the Shriner is the sword 
and the Crescent of Mahomet, whose cry is, “Down 
with the Christians.” 

While they will not put me in jail for attacking the 
Masonic lodge, they will close their churches against 
me; I am shut out from chautauquas; and this will 
continue, but I will stand alone with God. I shall de¬ 
liver my soul and “declare unto this people whether 
they will hear or whether they will forbear.” Below 
I will give you a letter which was written by a man 
who has been a Royal Arch Mason. I will let him 
speak for himself. He says: 

“I occupied successively the official position of Sec¬ 
retary, Senior Warden, and Worshipful Master of 


THE LIFE OF CARRY a. NATION. 


361 


Keystone Lodge, No. 639 Chicago. It became impera¬ 
tive that I acquire a thorough and accurate knowledge 
of the Standard Ritual, and Work of the three sym¬ 
bolic degrees. That was easily accomplished however 
by witnessing the degrees conferred in other lodges, 
bv occasional attendance at grand lectures, by observ¬ 
ing the work as exemplified in the Grand Lodge (of 
which I was a member) and above all by personal in¬ 
struction received from such prominent Masons as, 
D. H. Kilgore, H. F. Holcomb and John O’Neil Dis¬ 
trict Deputy Grands Masters in Chicago, but more 
especially from Mr. Edward Cook, late Grand Master 
of Masons of Illinois. 

“In the days of the Judges when ‘the children of 
Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord after 
Ehud was dead.’ (Judges 3:12.) And there being no 
man to deliver them from the power of the enemy into 
whose hands they were given, the Lord raised up De¬ 
borah, (Judges 4:4) a woman, to judge His people 
and to rescue them from the power of the oppressor 
and thus has He also done in these last days in rais¬ 
ing up Carry A. Nation. 

The beer shop and the lodge room, twin forces of 
evil, having everything their own way in this country, 
and the nominal church courting popular favor rather 
than standing up boldly and fearlessly for the truth of 
God. Carry A. Nation was called out as God’s wit¬ 
ness for righteousness, her heart filled with loyalty to 
Christ and His Word, and endowed with courage, 
fearlessness and a power of endurance seldom wit¬ 
nessed even in the boldest of men. She has gone forth 
from the very beginning striking boldly at every form 


362 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


of evil whether found in the White House or in the 
hovel of poverty and from proud, aristocratic Wash¬ 
ington to the lowest slum of any of our American 
cities. And this she has done fearlessly, but calmly, 
despite every opposition, and in the face of the scoffs 
and jeers and arrests and imprisonments, to which she 
has been subjected from the very first. None could do 
this and especially no woman could do it, unless se¬ 
lected and sustained by Almighty God. I have suffer¬ 
ed from the whiskey curse possibly as much as any 
man in this country but there is another abomination, 
and one even more dangerous and more farreaching 
in its evil results because it is clothed in mock right¬ 
eousness and sustained by all but popular favor, I 
mean the low pagan and anti-christian lodge system 
already referred as the twin-sister of the saloon. 

“Let us look into the Masonic lodge room and see 
what they do. In the outer room we find a preacher or 
a saloon keeper or a Jew waiting to be initiated. He is 
first divested of all his outer garments except his shirt 
and drawers. His left leg, left arm and left breast are 
made bare, a hoodwink is carefully fastened over his 
eyes and a blue rope called a cable tow is put once 
around his neck and he is now prepared to receive the 
first degree in Masonry. Look at him well as he stands 
at the door of the lodge, the Rev. John Doe, a pro¬ 
fessed minister of the Lord Jesus Christ and hear what 
Masonry has to say about him: “There he stands with¬ 
out our portals on the threshold of his new Masonic 
life in darkness helplessness and ignorance. Having 
been wandering amid the errors and covered over with 
the polutions of the outer and profane world he corner 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


363 


inquiringly to our doors seeking the new birth, and 
asking for a withdrawal of the veil which conceals 
Divine truth from his uninitiated sight.” “Manual of 
the Lodge” by Albert G. Mackey, p. 20. So then we 
gather from this, that Free Masonry is divine truth, 
and imports regeneration though rejecting the teach¬ 
ings of Christ. And let me add here that every Ma¬ 
sonic candidate, no matter what may be his station or 
calling, must submit to this disgusting and degrading 
ceremony of preparation above described, and it 
grows worse and worse as he advances in the Masonic 
degrees. But what is all this denuding and these 
hoodwinks and halters for? By and by he is led to 
the Masonic altar and caused to kneel upon his naked 
left knee, his left hand beneath the Holy Bible, square 
and compass and his right hand upon it, and among 
other things is caused to swear as follows: “I (John 
Doe) of my own free will and accord in the presence 
of Almighty God and this worshipful lodge erected to 
him, and dedicated to the holy Saint John do hereby 
and hereon most solemnly and sincerely promise and 
swear that I will always hail, ever conceal, and never 
reveal any of the secret arts, parts or points of the 
hidden mysteries of ancient Free Masonry to any per¬ 
son or persons whomsoever except it be to a true and 
lawful brother Mason, etc.” 

As regards the forgoing part of the Masonic oath, 
which is repeated with the necessary variations in 
every subsequent degree the following points are self 
evident: 

1st. It is administered without the slightest warrant 
of law and is therefore extra judicial and void. Where 


364 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


is there any legal authority for the Masonic oath ? 

2nd. It is absolutely indefinite, the candidate know¬ 
ing nothing whatever about what he is swear to, 
and is therefore contrary to the immutable law of God. 
In Leviticus 5:4, 5, we read as follows: “If a soul 
swear pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do 
good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with 
an oath and it be hid from him when he knoweth 
of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.” Herod’s 
oath and the Masonic are precisely the same, 
both are indefinite, Herod did not know what he was 
swearing to, and neither does the Masonic candidate. 
Herod’s wicked oath led to murder and the Masonic 
oath if lived up to will absolutely lead to the same 
crime. But look at Leviticus 5:5, “And it shall be 
when he is guilty in one of these things that he shall 
confess that he hath sinned in that thing.” 

But the Masonic obligation requires that one shall 
“always hail, ever conceal,” and hence according to 
Masonic law, the Mason must never confess, but be 
true and loyal to Masonry during his natural life. If 
this be not in direct violation of God’s law then it is 
impossible to say what is. But let us look a little fur¬ 
ther into the Entered Apprentice’s oath. Our candidate 
we have seen is a preacher, and his wife full of interest 
as to his work and reading and hearing so much 
about Masonry is anxious to know the truth. So she 
inquires of her husband: “John I am informed that 
when a man is about to be made a Mason, they take 
off his clothes even to his shoes and stockings, and 
have him dressed only in his shirt and drawers. Is 
that so?” “No it is not so.” “Did they blind fold you 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


365 


John?” “No they did not.” “Did they put a rope 
around your neck?” “No there are no such things in 
Masonry to my knowledge.” Now what is this preach¬ 
er doing in all these denials? He is simply living up 
to his Masonic oath by concealing the truth, but he is 
lying outright and lying to his wife even at that. Ma¬ 
sonry has come between them and while there can be 
confidential conferences and secrets between himself 
and the vilest saloon keeper or boot-legger in the coun¬ 
try, he cannot, he dare not communicate the same se¬ 
crets to the wife of his bosom. “The Devil was a mur¬ 
derer from the beginning and abode not in the truth 
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh 
a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar and the 
father of it.” (John 8:44.) And hence without room 
for disputation or doubt the Devil is the father of Ma¬ 
sonry and because of the nature of its oaths and obli¬ 
gations compels each of its members to make lies his 
refuge. But let us proceed further. At the close of 
the first oath the candidate swears as follows: “Bind¬ 
ing myself under no less a penalty than that of having 
my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by the roots, 
etc.” In the second or Fellow Craft degree it is, 
“Binding myself under no less a penalty than that of 
having my left breast torn open my heart plucked out, 
etc.” And in the third or Master Masons degree the 
candidate swears: “Binding myself under no less a 
penalty than that of having my body severed in twain, 
my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes and 
the ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven, etc.” 
Can you conceive of anything more horrible or more 
inhuman than are these awful penalties of death ? And 


3GG THE USE AND NEED OF 

to think that an American citizen, preachers and others 
are sworn under these blood curdling penalties, can 
only prove one thing; namely, “that the God of this 
worlds—-the devil,—has blinded the minds of them that 
believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ 
who is the image of God should shine unto them.” (II 
Cor. 4:4.) But remember that inasmuch as every Ma¬ 
son is sworn to have these inhuman and barbarous 
penalties inflicted upon himself should he ever divulge 
any of the silly so-called secrets of Masonry, so by the 
same clause in the same oath, he swears to inflict them 
on another brother Mason, his own son perhaps, or his 
brother according to the flesh. So then in the first part 
of the oath or obligation of a Mason he swears to de¬ 
ceive or lie even to his wife or child, and now in the 
closing part he swears to assasinate a brother Mason 
under certain circumstances if called upon to do so. 
There is no getting away from this conclusion and re¬ 
member that these horrible penalties do not mean the 
death of a martyr for constancy and loyalty to the Ma¬ 
sonic system, but they mean a mode of death of which 
a savage would be ashamed, and that for divulging an 
alleged secret that has no existence and in fact never 
has had. 

But now for a brief space let us look further at this 
Master Mason’s oath, “Furthermore that I will stand 
to and abide by all the laws, rules and regulations of 
the Master Mason’s degree.” But what are these 
“laws, rules and regulations?” He doesn’t know and 
yet he swears to “stand to and abide by” them all. Is 
this in accordance with American laws and usages? 
No it is diametrically opposite, and also diametrically 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 367 

opposite to the law of God as in Leviticus 5 :4, 5. 
“Furthermore, that I will not cheat, wrong or de¬ 
fraud a lodge of Master Masons nor a brother of this 
degree knowingly.” But he can cheat, wrong and de¬ 
fraud all others if he has a chance. At best this clause 
enforces only partial honesty which is simply dishon¬ 
esty and nothing more. “Furthermore, that I will keep 
the secrets of a brother Master Mason as inviolable as 
my own, murder and treason excepted, and these at 
my own option/’ Suppose this Mason is called into 
court as a witness in a case when another Master Ma¬ 
son is the defendant and of whose crimes or crime he 
has knowledge, which oath will he obey, his legal oath 
administered according to law, or his lodge oath ad¬ 
ministered contrary to law ? He cannot obey both, he 
cannot be an honest witness and a good Mason. 

“Furthermore, that I will not have illicit carnal in¬ 
tercourse with a Master Mason’s wife, mother, sister 
or daughter, I knowing them to be such.” And the 
wives, sisters, mothers and daughters of other men, 
what about them? This clause including only the fe¬ 
male relatives of Masons indicates at best only a par¬ 
tial morality and hence leaves the wav open for im¬ 
morality or libertinism. 

“Further, that I will not give the grand hailing sign, 
or sign of distress of a Master Mason except in real 
distress, and should I see the sign given I will immed¬ 
iately repair to the relief of the person so giving it 
should there be a greater probability of saving his life 
than of loosing my own.” This clause of the Master 
Mason’s oath applies only to the court and jury room. 
A Masonic defendant making this sign of distress and 


368 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


a Masonic juror seeing it given, which oath think you 
will he obey? He cannot obey the legal oath of the 
court and the illegal lodge oath at the same time 
and so I am quite satisfied to leave the fur¬ 
ther discussion of this terrible Masonic question to 
the candid judgment of honest unprejudicial American 
men and women simply quoting one sentence from the 
“Lexicon of Free Masonry” by Dr. Albert G. Mackey, 
page 16 under the word “Acacian.” “Acacian: from 
Akkakia innocence and signifying a Mason who by 
living in strict obedience to the obligations and pre¬ 
cepts of the fraternity is free from sin.” 

If this be not the doctrine of demons spoken of by 
the Holy Spirit through Paul will some one stand up 
and tell us what it is? 

And so, Sister Nation, I most heartily wish you God 
speed in your noble testimony. The Lord of the har¬ 
vest is coming soon and the “bundles” of men and wo¬ 
men are being rapidly bound. May our God and Father 
fully enable you to “Cry aloud and spare not, lift up 
thy voice like a trumpet and show His people their 
transgression and the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isa. 
53:1.) 

Faithfully yours in His service, 

E. Ronayne. 

Believing that Freemasons are sworn to keep one 
another’s secrets, to assist one another when in any 
criminal difficulty whether right or wrong, and to obey 
at once “the grand hailing sign of distress,” Mrs. Carry 
A. Nation justly concludes that the Masonic system is 
generally made use of to corrupt witnesses and jurors 


23 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


369 


in our courts, that brewers, distillers and even saloon 
keepers largely use it in promoting the interests of 
their nefarious traffic, that it nullifies that mutual com¬ 
munity of knowledge and confidence that ought to ex¬ 
ist between husband and wife and above and beyond 
all that it is a pagan blotch on our civilization, deny¬ 
ing and rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only 
remedy for man’s salvation,—in a word Mrs. Nation 
rightly judges that Freemasonry is satan’s masterpiece, 
and hence she opposes it with all her might as she does 
every other form of evil. While in Mexico a question 
arose as to the correctness of a statement she made in 
one of her lectures as regards the Masonic oaths, and 
learning of my address she wrote me and the follow¬ 
ing is one of my letters cheerfully written at her sug¬ 
gestion. 

E. Ronayne. 

Harrison, Ark., April 13, 1908. 
Dear Sister Nation :— 

Your very excellent letter of the 8th inst. from 
Gainsville, Florida, was received last Saturday, and its 
contents carefully noted. I mailed you a letter to Or¬ 
lando, Florida requesting the postmaster at that place 
to forward it if necessary and I do hope you have re¬ 
ceived it before this. In that letter you will find many 
things in relation to Masonic boycott, etc., which will 
give you an idea of the spirit of enmity you arouse 
when you denounce that vicious and anti-christian sys¬ 
tem. Acting upon the suggestion in your last letter 
then, I shall now state as briefly as I can how and why 
I became a Freemason, what I thought of the system, 


370 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


the books I have written, and my work against the in¬ 
stitution for thirty-four years. 

Being appointed Principal of the British and Canad¬ 
ian Model School in Quebec City in 1857, and taking 
an active part in the fierce religious controversy going 
on in 1858 between the High and Low church parties 
throughout the entire diocese of Quebec, I was 
brought into close relationship with the Orange society 
of the district and in June of that year, was initiated 
into “The Loyal Orange Institution,” receiving in due 
time all of its degrees—“The Orange, The Purple, 
The Blue, The Royal Arch Purple Mark and the Scar¬ 
let—in Aughrim Lodge No. 535, and was elected Mas¬ 
ter of the Lodge in 1859. Through my official con¬ 
nection with Orangeism I became intimately acquaint¬ 
ed with the leading Freemasons of the city. From 
early boyhood I had a strong desire to know what great 
secret which is ignorantly supposed to be held by Free¬ 
masons, and which they pretend no outsider can ever 
discover. I made application to Harrington Lodge 
No. 49 A. F. and A M. was balloted for in due time, 
and received the first or Entered Appretice degree of 
Freemasonry in the fall of 18G0. But where was that 
wonderful secret I had paid good money for and had 
sworn to keep under penalty of death ? I had received 
no secret whatever, but possibly it would be made 
known further along. At the proper time I attended 
lodge meeting again, and was passed to the degree of 
Fellow Craft, and on the night of December 31st I 
was raised to the sublime (?) degree of Master Ma¬ 
son. I was now a full fledged Freemason, carefullv 
instructed in all its alleged mysteries, but where was 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 371 

that superlative secret I had paid for? I was put 
through a lot of uncouth silly and (as George Wash¬ 
ington once said,) “Child’s play” ceremonies, but re¬ 
ceived no secret whatever. I paid $30 down accord¬ 
ing to Canadian Masonic law, and was most solemnly 
sworn under three inhuman death penalties—1st. To 
have “mv throat cut across and my tongue torn out by 
the roots.” 2nd. To ‘have my left breast torn open 
and my heart plucked out,” and 3rd. To “have my 
body severed in twain and my bowels taken from 
thence and burned to ashes.”—To keep inviolate the 
great Masonic secret, but I again repeat that I had re¬ 
ceived no secret whatever nor anything approaching 
a secret. But on the contrary I very soon discovered 
that all the miserable stuff through which I was 
caused to pass in a semi-nude blindfolded condition, 
together with the grips, signs, passwords, including 
the great and wonderful Mah-hah-bone itself, had been 
printed and published to the world word for word in 
182c, or seven years before I was born, by one Richard 
Carlile of London, and to prove that I had discovered 
their contemptible imposition I exhibited the book 
before them all at the next lodge meeting. Now in 
all ordinary business what would such a transaction 
be called ? Simply a swindle, a fraud, obtaining money 
'under false pretenses, and then withal to swear men 
under horrible death penalties to hush up that swindle 
and keep that fraud a profound secret.—that’s Fre- 
masonry. 

Well in 1865 resigning my position in Quebec I 
moved with my family to Illinois and sending on, my 
wife and two boys to Steven's Point, Wisconsin, where 


.372 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


her father and mother lived, I stayed behind in Chicago 
and began at once to look for some employment but 
without success. I was a good bookkeeper, an expert 
shorthand writer, but it seemed that there was no place 
for me anywhere. At last in November, 1865, I found 
a job digging and shoveling dirt from the basement of 
one of Chicago’s public schools—“The Kinzie,”—on 
Ohio street. And so now from being Principal of a 
public school in Quebec I was a common day laborer 
in the basement of a public school in Chicago. But 
never having done such work, the weather being raw 
and cold, and the cellar damp, I was attacked with 
muscular rheumatism and lay for fifteen days in the 
garret of a sailor’s boarding house, over a saloon kept 
by one Dennis Heany on Kinzie street, where the 
North Western Passenger Depot now stands. 
Being told that I could not recover unless I was sent 
to hospital or removed from that garret, I now for the 
first time put the Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth of 
Masonry to the test by summoning three of the most 
prominent Free-Masons in the neighborhood, namely: 
Mr. Brewster, Mr. Rowe and Mr. Blaney. Approach¬ 
ing the bedside one of them remarked, “O you’re the 
sick man, what seems to be the trouble?” I told them 
and satisfying themselves that I was a Mason they 
went away but no relief came. A Mr. Mullally a com¬ 
mission merchant hearing of the affair had me brought 
down stairs, put me into a hack and rode with me to 
the Sisters of Mercy Hospital where he paid $35.00 in 
advance before I was put into bed in the seventh ward. 
Needless to say that Mullallv was not a Mason. Pass¬ 
ing over the years 1866-7, I will simply say that by 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


373 


hard work I had earned and saved enough money to 
buy a lot and build a house, and now having my own 
school room I went back to my favorite business again 
and very soon had a large select school. Toward the 
end of 1868 I bought another lot and built another 
house. Now many of the Masons began to flock 
around me, a new lodge, Keystone, was organized in 
1869, and nothing else would do but I must join it. 
Waiting till they received their charter from the Grand 
Lodge, I sent for my demit to Harrington Lodge at 
Quebec and was admitted a member of Keystone 
Lodge No. 639. I was working hard at my school, 
was making money fast, was not a Christian and 
thought the lodge would be an enjoyable place to spend 
an evening. At first I became a Mason from curiosity 
and now in 1870 I joined Keystone Lodge No. 639, 
Chicago, for sociability. 

Not long after I became a member of Keystone, the 
secretary eloped with another Mason’s wife thus leav¬ 
ing the secretary’s desk vacant and I was at once ap¬ 
pointed to the position until the annual election in De¬ 
cember. 

In the winter of 1870 I bought another lot and built 
another house, a large 3-story and basement which 
we rented in May, 1871, and now I was more than in¬ 
dependent having $90 per month in rent besides my 
school, which brought me $100 per month more, but 
on the 8th and 9th of October, 1871, the great fire of 
Chicago ocurred, and every thing I owned except our 
every day clothes and the vacant lots went up in smoke. 
I was at once appointed a member of the “Board of 
Masonic Relief,’ and in December of that year, was 


374 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


elected Senior Warden of my lodge in December, 

1872, was elected Worshipful Master, and was now by 
Virtue of my office a member of the Grand Lodge of 
Illinois and hence in a position to learn the practical 
workings of Masonry. 

As a member of the Masonic Board of Relief, I at¬ 
tended all of its meetings from its first organization 
to its close on June 24, 1872. During that time the 
Executive Committee—the Illinois Grand Master and 
Harry Duval—received $90,641 for the relief of their 
burned-out brother Masons and the widows and or¬ 
phans of deceased Masons, but of that amount they 
stole $60,000 to buy hoodwinks, halters, aprons, draw¬ 
ers, etc., and to re-establish Masonic lodges. The poor 
burned out Masons may starve but Masonry must be 
kept up. And aside from that outrage Harmon G. 
Reynolds the Past Grand Master stole $481. I pre¬ 
ferred charges against him in open Grand Lodge in 

1873, but being a “high Mason’' his fellow grafters al¬ 
lowed him to go scot free. Such is Free Masonry. 

In 1873-4 there were six Clandestine lodges of Ma¬ 
sons in Chicago, today the country is full of them, and 
men are visiting lodges and practicing Masonry who 
were never initiated in either the regular or’clandes- 
time bodies, and yet the different regular lodges keep 
right on selling their bogus so-called secrets and ob¬ 
taining money under false pretenses. At the annual 
Grand Lodge meeting in Chicago in 1874, I intro¬ 
duced a resolution leading to a discussion of the fact 
that a committee ought to be appointed by the Grand 
Lodge to inflict one of the Masonic death penalties on 
each of the six regular Masons presiding over those 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


375 


Glandestine lodges. My motion was voted down of 
course, but next day I introduced another to the effect 
that inasmuch as the Masonic Institution dare not ex¬ 
ecute its death penalties because doing so would be 
assasination, therefore that immediate steps be taken 
to have the death penalties expunged from the system. 
My chief object was to impress upon the members, 
how false they acted and how foolish they must appear 
even in their own eyes, to be swearing candidates un¬ 
der penalties of death that they dare not inflict, but I 
received a most decided rebuff. The Grand Senior 
Warden, Joe Robbins of Quincy, Illinois, declaring 
'‘Most Worshipful Grand Master, if we do away with 
the penalty what becomes of the sign,” at the same 
time drawing his right hand across his throat. 

There is no such thing as an accident no matter what 
people may say or think, “All things are of God;” I 
knew that Masonry is a “lie all over,” its oaths obliga¬ 
tions and death penalties illegal and inhuman and my 
first intention was to drop out quietly and let the mis¬ 
erable swindle severely alone, but God had ordered 
otherwise and so on the last Wednesday in October, 
1874, meeting one of the members on his way to the 
lodge he urged me to accompany him, I went along, 
and that night in the hall of Keystone Lodge No. 639 
Chicago, I gave my first lecture against Masonry be¬ 
fore a room full of Masons. They listened attentively 
to the end but when I sat down bedlam broke loose, 
the meeting.was closed between one and two o’clock 
in the morning. We all went down stairs together, 
talked awhile on the sidewalk about what I was doing, 
said “good night” all round, and I was out of Free- 


376 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


masonry for ever. I at once set about writing the 
“Hand Book” referred to elsewhere, but two of the 
members of the lodge, David Lally and William Aiken 
the Tyler and Secretary respectively urged me again 
and again to work the Masonic degrees publicly and 
so announcing a meeting to be held in my own school 
room I conferred the three degrees of Masonry pub¬ 
licly on John Trainor, and from that night on till his 
death poor Trainor was called “Ronayne’s goat.” 
What I did that night was an unheard of thing, the 
Chicago papers were full of it, and soon, urgent calls 
came from all over this country and Canada to have 
the Masonic degrees publicly exemplified. But had I 
been a Christian in those early days of 1875, how de¬ 
lightful and easy would have been my work. I was 
exposing Masonry because I saw it was a glaring 
fraud, its illegal oaths and signs of distress almost 
daily used in the court room and on the witness stand 
to turn justice aside and to free the criminal if a Ma¬ 
son, but-through the riches of God’s boundless grace 
in the winter of 1875-6 at one of Mr. Moody’s meet¬ 
ings, and from Isa: 53:6, he revealed to me what the 
Lord Jesus His only begotten Son had done for me. 
That precious passage from God’s word exactly suited 
my case, and it also suits the case of every man and 
woman in the world—“The Lord laid on Him the in¬ 
iquity of us all,”—Blessed be God He did and He laid 
on Him my iniquities and I say through grace that 
“He loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal 2:20.) 

From that time on there was an added motive for 
publicly working the Masonic degrees. At first I re¬ 
nounced the system because I had proved that it is the 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


377 


most cunning and consummate swindle of modern 
times, but now I was exposing it because of its utterly 
pagan and anti-Christian character. And so for six 
years I worked the Masonic degrees in almost every 
city and town in the Northern States and Canada, be¬ 
fore immense audiences and tens of thousands were 
kept out of Masonry while thousands more were made 
free indeed through the power of truth. My school 
of course was closed, thus shutting off my main source 
of income for the support of my family, and from the 
first day that I worked the Masonic degrees publicly 
until the present I have been the subject of Masonic 
boycott and hatred. 

The Masonic preachers being worse in that respect 
than their fellow Masons. But God who has cared for 
me all these long eventful 76 years of my life will care 
for me to the end. My creed is the eighth chapter of 
Romans, and my only regret in these lost days of my 
busy life is, that I did not know the Lord Jesus Christ 
before I became a bound Mason. I enclose a list of 
my books all of which can be obtained from W. I. 
Phillips at the office of the National Christian Associa¬ 
tion, 221 W. Madison street, Chicago, Illinois. 

My first wife died not many months after the death 
of our youngest boy in 1896, a fine young man 38 years 
of age, who was brought to the grave through the 
curse of liquor and the viciousness of a wicked Cath¬ 
olic wife. This lady who became my second wife in 
1897, was “begotten again by the word of truth,” at 
my gospel meetings in the Baptist church at Milton 
Junction, Wisconsin, in 1885. We have two little girls, 
Ruth and Rachel, born September 7, 1900 and May 9, 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


378 

1902, respectively. We're extremely poor, but our 
trust is in God, and we know that He'll fulfill His 
promise as found in Phil. 4:19. 

Freemasonry was concocted in a low grog shop,— 
the apple Tree Tavern,—in London, in 1717, and from 
that time to this the saloon curse and the Masonic 
curse have gone on side by side, so that today one of 
the main supports of the liquor traffic is Freemasonry. 
To be convinced of this you have only to watch the 
Triennial conclaves of the Knights Templar and the 
so-called banquets of the Blue Lodge and the Chapter, 
all simply nothing more- or less than drunken de¬ 
bauches. 

May the Lord enable you to smash both the saloon 
and the lodge is the earnest prayer of your brother in 
Christ. 

E. Ronayne. 


Following are my books on Masonry: 

1. “Hand Book of Freemasonry” 275 : pp., 

Gives Masonry complete. . 50c 

2. “Master’s Carpet,” 406 pp., gives origin and 

meaning of the ceremonies.. .75c 

3. “Mah-hah-bone,” 690 pp., comprises 1 and 2. .$1.00 

4. “Chapter Degrees,” 320 pp., gives the 4 chap¬ 
ter degrees in full. . 75c 

5. -“Masonic Oaths,” 207 pp., Proves them void 

and illegal.... . .40c 

6. “Ronayne’s Reminescences,” 445 pp., My life 

history by myself and exposes Romanism.75c 

7. “Blue Lodge and Chapter,” Gives 1 and 4 

complete. $1:00 

8. “Masonry at a Glance.”. . . ..... .6c 








THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


379 


SECRECY AND SIN. 

The shield of sin is secrecy. Wrong seeks conceal¬ 
ment. The doers of mischief preface or conclude their 
work with “Don’t you tell.” From the mischievous 
boys who plot their raids on orchards and melon patch¬ 
es to the stock speculators who engineer their “cor¬ 
ners” and swindle the unwary, the religious dema¬ 
gogues who control and mismanage the trusts commit¬ 
ted to them, the low politicians who plot in caucuses 
or defeat honest elections by villainous counting out, 
the organized banditti which fill ill-governed countries 
with terror, or the bands of pirates who redden the 
seas with blood—the bond of secrecy is the seal and 
protection under which mischief and villainy is con¬ 
cocted and concealed. 

We are to distinguish between that which is private, 
and that which is secret. There are private affairs in 
which the world at large has no interest. Personal 
affairs, which concern our own business transactions 
or domestic interests, are properly considered as pri¬ 
vate matters. They are not secret, but they are things 
in which others have ordinarily no concern. The pri¬ 
vacies of business or of home require no special guard¬ 
ianship, each sensible person usually having wrt enough 
to hold his tongue, and each well-bred person know¬ 
ing enough not to meddle with other people’s busi¬ 
ness; but when there are family secrets and business 
secrets there are frequently wrongs, and sins, and sor¬ 
rows, and skeletons which must be concealed. 

But in the world at large systems of organized se- 


380 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


crecy are presumably wrong. There can be nothing 
private in a matter which is known to hundreds of 
thousands of people. It can by no possibility be a mat¬ 
ter of personal interest if it requires such wide con¬ 
cealment. It would therefore seem to be a secret, a 
conspiracy, a wrong. Thus rebellions, insurrections, 
murders and various plots of villainy frequently be¬ 
come widespread under the cloak of secrecy. 

There are various secret combinations which obtain 
great currency, and are held in high repute. They 
have, as in the ancient heathen mysteries, their exoteric 
and esorteric instructions; that is, their outside and 
their inside teachings. Outside there is profession, 
pretension, pomp, fuss and feathers. Inside there are 
oaths, pledges, obligations, curses, penalties and 
threats, coupled with grotesque performances, blas¬ 
phemous adjurations, and absurd and degrading cere¬ 
monies. What can be the object of all these perform¬ 
ances, veiled under an impenetrable cloud of secrecy? 

We have known persons who have shut themselves 
up to study and work, and at the close of their seclu¬ 
sion have come forth with some grand discovery, some 
new invention, something which has wrought a me¬ 
chanical, financial or social revolution in the world; 
and we have recognized the propriety and wisdom of 
the seclusion which, bore such fruit as that; but here 
are men who year after year have met in secret and 
performed their mysterious rites, and have parted, and 
what good have they done? What discoveries have 
they made? What inventions have they produced? 
What have they to show as the result of all their secret 
plotting and endeavoring? Have they discovered any- 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


381 


thing which the world did not possess before? Have 
they done anything which was worth doing, which had 
not been done before, and done a thousand times? Is 
their work a work of charity? Charity needs no se¬ 
crecy. Is it the inculcation of principles of wisdom 
and knowledge? There is no need of oaths and obli¬ 
gations in such a case, for every one who receives wis¬ 
dom and knowledge is bound by the strictest obliga¬ 
tions to convey the same to those around him. Have 
they succeeded in making men better fathers and 
brothers, better citizens and better Christians than can 
be produced by any other means? In a word, there 
is no necessity for such concealments and obligations 
unless it be the necessity caused by sin. 

Suppose, for example, that a church should be or¬ 
ganized, at the door of which stood men with drawn 
swords, and of which no person could become a mem¬ 
ber unless he first consented on bended knee to take 
an oath, of the purport of which he knew and could 
know nothing until it was administered to him sentence 
by sentence, while in a helpless condition. How long 
would such a church be tolerated in the community? 
Suppose also, that it limited its membership to persons 
of one sex, excluding the young, the aged, the penniless 
and the crippled, taking in only the ablebodied and 
prosperous, who were decked with barbaric trappings, 
and marched around for public exhibition on galadays ; 
how long would such a church be tolerated in the land ? 
Would not its ostentatious secrecy be in itself an evi¬ 
dence that there was something radically wrong in its 
conception? Would not the world at large scout such 
an establishment, and denounce it as a fraud and an 


382 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


outrage on the community at large? But if it were 
found, in addition to this, that the men who were thus 
pompously exhibiting themselves before the commun¬ 
ity managed to secure nearly all the public offices to 
which other citizens were equally eligible; that they 
were by mysterious means extricated from difficulties 
acquitted of criminal charges, and exempted from the 
ordinary burdens and responsibilities of the commun¬ 
ity around them, would not the conclusion he speedily 
reached that their secret church, with all its boasts of 
advantages, was selfish, unpatriotic and un-Christian, 
and thus unworthy of the countenance and toleration 
of Christian men? Nor would any pretensions to 
benevolence, wisdom, or superior excellence, for a 
moment weigh against this conclusion. For none of 
these things require such secret preparations and ob¬ 
ligations. Hence, the very fact that secrecy is invoked 
and employed for the furtherance of the object, is in 
itself a most suspicious circumstance. Our Saviour, 
when he came into this world, taught in public and in 
private, but not in secret. He taught the multitudes 
in public, by parables and simple illustrations. He 
taught his disciples in private, opening and expound¬ 
ing all things to them in answer to their questions. 
But he said to them, “What I tell you in darkness, that 
speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear that pub¬ 
lish ye upon the housetops.”—(Matt. 10:27.) He 
commanded them to proclaim wherever they went the 
things concerning which he had given them instruc¬ 
tion privately; and when he was interrogated concern¬ 
ing his doctrine, he fell back on no obligation of se¬ 
crecy to justify his refusal to answer the questions 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


383 


which were propounded, but he distinctly said: “I 
spake openly to the world ; I ever taught in the syna- 
gogue and in the temple whither the Jews always re¬ 
sort, and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest 
thou me ? Ask them which heard me, what I have said 
unto them: behold, they know what I said.”—(John 
18:20, 21. His teaching was open; all interested were 
welcome to hear the words which he spake. There 
was nothing there to be concealed. It is also declared 
that “God shall bring every work into judgment, with 
every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it 
be evil.” (Eccl. 12:14) ; that not only the secrets of 
men’s lives, but also “the counsels of the hearts shall 
be made manifest” (I Cor. 4:5) in the great revealing 
day. 

What possible utility then can there be in organizing 
vast systems whose only bond is secrecy? If they have 
anything good, why not fling it forth to the world and 
bless mankind thereby? What have they accomplish¬ 
ed? For years and years secret fraternities have as¬ 
sembled and performed, and have strutted about in 
plumes and regalia, and what have they done?: What 
inventions have they perfected ? What scheme for the 
amelioration of human misery have they inaugurated? 
What institutions of learning and philanthropy have 
they founded ? What reforms have they effected? 
What have they to show for all their pomp and pre¬ 
tensions? Surely the world has a right to ask these 
questions. 

The Church of Christ is doing her work in the 
world. There are no obligations of secrecy, no con¬ 
cealments, no darkened rooms nor guarded doors to 


384 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


hide the work she does. She feeds the hungry, she 
clothes the naked, she ministers to the sick, she lifts 
up the bowed down, she instructs the erring, she 
guides the perplexed, she warns the unruly, she com¬ 
forts the mourner, she founds hospitals and colleges 
and academies and schools, she promotes reforms, she 
testifies against evils, she produces and disseminates 
wholesome literature, she scatters light and truth on 
every hand. Her work is open, and it shows for itself 
what she has done and why she does it. As compared 
with this, what have votaries of secretism to exhibit? 
Gaudy paraphernalia, pompous processions, medieval 
uniforms, magnificent buildings from which the public 
are rigorously excluded, midnight conclaves, secret 
grips, mysterious passwords, and a jumble of philan¬ 
thropy, piety and profanity, all of which is guarded by 
oaths and obligations and penalties so shocking and 
absurd that their revelation invariably puts their votar¬ 
ies in a rage; and this is all. Or, if there is anything 
more than this, it is craft and guile, the plotting of se¬ 
cret mischief and the wielding of power by irresponsi¬ 
ble despots, for objects which cannot bear the light of 
day. 

Let Christian men maintain their integrity and in¬ 
dependence ; let them stand for God though they stand 
alone. If worldlings will be bound together like tares 
“in bundles to be burned,” let Christians spurn the un¬ 
holy associations and stand separate from sin, waiting 
for the great day of the Lord. 

Since I came out of secret societies, I have several 
times had to face the question, “Why did you drop the 
secret societies?” My first answer is, “The secret so- 


24 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


385 


ciety is no place for a Christian to be.” To be a Chris¬ 
tian one must be Christ-like; and no person can be 
like Christ if he goes where Christ cannot go. God’s 
word says: “If they shall say unto you, Behold, He is 
in the secret chambers; believe it not.” (Mhtt. 24:26.) 
Again, in Gen. 49 :6, we find this statement, “O my 
soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their as¬ 
sembly, mine honor, be not thou united (with them) ! 
for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self- 
will they digged down a wall.” 

Now let me ask, How about Morgan? And do you 
not think that the “wall” here referred to, represents 
God’s Law? It was a protection in those days, and 
should be today. But it is set aside by the oath-bound 
men who have respect for the lodge brothers, while 
God says in James 2:9: “If ye have respect to persons, 
ye cannot sin, and are convinced of the law as trans¬ 
gressors.” 

The Masons tell me that if I live according to the 
teachings of Masonry I will be sure to go to Heaven. 
But I know there is no salvation from Sin outside of 
Christ, and that Christ is never in Masonry. 

They also say that King Solomon was a Mason. Be¬ 
cause he built the Temple is no proof that he was a Se¬ 
cret Society man; but if Masonry started with the 
builder of the Temple, the rejection of Christ by Ma¬ 
sonry started then; and if this be true, no wonder that 
the later rulers of the Temple rejected Him. “Who¬ 
soever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.” 
(I John 2:23.) So you see that if we shut Jesus out, 
we shut out God also. Our God is a jealous God, and 
His honor He will not give to another. The great 


38G 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


apostle said that he was determined to know nothing 
among us, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified; so 
now , my Christian brothers, “Come out from among 
them (secret workers) and be ye separate, saith the 
Lord.” 

Gastonia, N. C. 


M. W. Moore. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


387 


SHE’S COMING ON THE FREIGHT. 

OR THE JOINT KEEPER^ DILEMMA. 

Say, Billy, git ten two-by-four 
‘Nd twenty six-by-eight, 

’Nd order from the hardware store 
Ten sheets of boiler plate, 

’Nd ’phone the carpenter to come 
Most mighty quick—don’t wait, 

For there’s a story on the streets 
She’s coming on the freight. 

O, many years I’ve carried on 
My business in this town; 

I’ve helped elect its officers, 

From mayor Dram clear down; 

Tve let policemen, fer a wink, 

Get jags here every day; 

Say, Billy, get a move on, fer 
She’s headed right this way. 

I don’t mind temperance meetin’s 
When they simply resolute, 

Fer after all their efforts bring 
But mighty little fruit; 

But when crowbars and hatchets 
’Nd hand axes fill the air— 

Say, Billy, git that boiler iron 
Across the window there! 

It beats the nation—no, I think 
The Nation’s heatin’ me, 


388 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


When I can pay a license here 
And still not sell it free; 

Fer I must keep my customers 
Outside ’nd make ’em wait, 

Because the story’s got around 
She’s coinin’ on the freight. 

There, Billy, now we’ve got her— 
Six-eights across the door, 

’Nd solid half-inch boiler iron 

Where plate glass showed before; 

But, Billy, before that freight arrives 
Ye’d better take a pick 
’Nd pry that cellar window loose, 

So we can git out quick. 

—Ed. Blair. 


A WOMAN. 

(Dedicated to Mrs. Carry Nation.) 

When Kansas joints are open wide 
To ruin men on every side, 

What power can stem their lawless tide ? 

A woman. 

When many mother’s hearts have bled 
And floods of sorrow’s tears are shed, 
Who strikes the serpent on the head? 

A woman. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


389 


When boys are ruined every day 
And older ones are led astray, 

Who boldly strikes and wins the fray? 

A woman. 

When drunkenness broods o’er the home, 
For bidding pleasure there to come, 

Whose hatchet spills the jointist’s rum? 

A woman. 

When rum’s slain victims fall around, 

And vice and poverty abound, 

Who cuts this up as to the ground? 

A woman. 

When those who should enforce the law 
Are useless as are men of straw, 

What force can make saloons withdraw? 

A woman. 

When public sentiment runs low, 

And no one dares to make them go, 

Whose hatchet lays their fixtures low ? 

A woman. 

Who sways this mighty rising tide 
That daily grows more deep and wide, 

Until no rum shall it outride ? 

A woman. 

Who then can raise her fearless hand, 

And say ’twas “Home Defender’s” band 
Who drove this monster from the land! 

A woman. 

—Dr. T. J. Merryman. 


390 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


THAT LITTLE HATCHET. 

The world reveres brave Joan of Arc, 
Whose faith inspired her fellow man 
To crush invading- columns dark. 

So, modern woman’s firmer will 
To conquer crime’s unholy clan, 
Crowns her man’s moral leader still. 


A century was fading fast, 

When o’er its closing decade passed 
A matron’s figure, chaste, yet bold, 

Who held within her girdle’s fold 
A bran’ new hatchet. 

The jointists smiled within their bars, 
’Mid bottles, mirrors and cigars— 

The woman passed behind each screen, 
And soon occurred a “literal” scene— 
Rum, ruin, racket! 

At first she “moral suasion” tried, 

But lawless men mere “talk” deride:— 
’Twas then she seized her household ax 
And for enforcing law by acts, 

Found nought to match it. 

The work thus wrought with zeal discreet, 
Has saved that town from rum complete; 
Proving that woman’s moral force 
Like man’s, is held, as last resource, 

By sword or hatchet. 



THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


391 


And following up that dauntless raid, 

The nation welcomes her crusade; 

All o’er the land, pure women charmed, 

Are eager forming, each one armed 

With glittering hatchets. 

Talk of “defenders of the nation!” 
Woman’s slight arm sends consternation 
’Mong its worst foes, on social fields, 
Worse than the “Mauser,” when she wields 
The “smashing” hatchet. 

Mohammed sought by arts refined, 

To raise his standard o’er mankind; 

But found success for aye denied, 

Until at length he boldly tried 
The battle-hatchet. 

When soon his power imperial, shone 
O’er countless tribes, in widening zone; 
And wine was banished from the board 
Of Moslem millions, by the sword 
And victor’s hatchet. 

So may it be with this great nation, 

When woman tests her high vocation; 
Persuasion proves a futile power 
To quell the joints, but quick they cower 
At the whirling hatchets. 

True chivalry must come again, 

And men, more noble, but less vain, 


392 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Responding to its modern sense, 

Guard woman, while in self-defense 
She plies her hatchet. 

When honor bright appeals to men 
“The weak confounds the mighty/’ then 
Side doors and slot-machines must close 
And such games hide, when women pose 
With sharpened hatchets. 

’Else are men brutes, and all their pride 
And gallant valor, they must hide 
In coward shirking. This shameful end 
They must accept, or else defend 

The “home-guard” hatchet. 

’Tis woman’s crucial, fateful hour, 

Tier fine soul’s test, ’gainst man’s coarse power. 
In war, she can not be man’s peer, 

But for home’s weal, all men sincere 
Bow to her hatchet. 

Man’s “Vigilance” is oft condoned, 

When Vice and Crime has been enthroned. 
Shall women then, be more to blame, 

When she in Virtue’s sacred name 
Raises her hatchet? 

’Tis she must grasp the nation’s prize— 

A pure, proud home, earth’s paradise. 

The joints must go, but, never till 
Woman exerts her potent will 
And holy hatchet. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


393 


As men, once slaves, their freedom gained 
By force, and power at length attained; 

So, cultured brains and force combined, 
Shall mark the sphere of womankind 
And surely reach it. 

In valor, more Joan d’Arc’s are needed, 
Woman’s high social power’s conceded, 

But she herself, must blaze the path 
To public morals, by her own worth 
And “Little Hatchet.” 

—C. Butler-Andrews. 


Dr. Howard Russell told in his address at Kokomo, 
Sunday, March 24, how when Mrs. Nation was on her 
way from Topeka to Peoria recently, a passenger on 
the same train came into the car where she was and 
sang a song of his own composition. He was evident¬ 
ly a farmer with a large stock of mother-wit. He was 
lame, and limped into the car, and hopped up and 
down while he sang. A great deal of merry enthus¬ 
iasm was aroused, and the car, packed full of people, 
expressed their appreciation by round after round of 
applause. It is evident that Mrs. Nation is quite pop¬ 
ular in that part of the country. 

The song is as follows: 

Hurrah, Samantha, Mrs. Nation is in town! 

So get on your bonnet and your Sunday-meeting gown 
Oh, I am so blamed. excited I am hopping up and down 
Hurrah, Samantha, Carrie Nation is in town! 


394 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


Get yon ready, we are going to the city, 

Where the “Home Defenders” are all feeling gay, 
And the mothers all exclaiming, “Its a pity 

That Carrie Nation does not come here every day.” 

I want to hear that mirror-smashing music, 

And to look in Mrs. Nation’s blessed face, 

And to see the saloon men all cavorting 

With that hatchet bring sadness to their face. 

Hurrah, Samantha, Mrs. Nation is in town! 

So wear your brightest bonnet and your alapaca gown. 
Oh, I am so jubilated I’m a hopping up and down, 
Hurrah! Hurrah! Samantha, Mrs. Nation is in town. 


“GOD BLESS OUR CARRIE NATION.” 

May she live to see the day, 

When the liquor traffic will be no more. 
When the traffic of the devil 
Will all be swept away, 

And God’s peace remain supreme from 
shore to shore. 

God bless the hatchet wielder, 

May it never cease to strike, 

Till it drives the cursed intemperance 
from our land; 

Let us stand for God and duty, 

Till we gain the Eden of beauty, 

And be what God designed for us, 

A happy union band. 


THE LIFE OF CARRY A. NATION. 


395 


God bless our Carrie Nation, 

Give her courage, strength, and might, 
To go forth in former battlements ar¬ 
rayed, 

Till this cursed intemperance, 

Will be driven from our shore, 

From every village, hamlet and the 
glade. 

O, God, raise up a million, 

Of our Carrie Nation minds, 

That they may fight for freedom, from 
the thrall. 

Let’s join our hands with Carrie 
And do not let us tarry, 

Oh, let us toil for Jesus one and all. 


THE HATCHET CRUSADE. 

(Dedicated to Mrs. Carry Nation.) 

Oh, woman, armed with one little hatchet, 
Fighting for justice and right, 

And with your brave mother courage 
Knowing your cause was right, 

You’ve done more to hasten God’s kingdom, 
And to crush satan’s power o’er men, 
Than countless numbers of creation’s lords, 
With the power of the ballot thrown in. 


396 


THE USE AND NEED OF 


You’ve awakened the mothers to action 
Whose powers have long dormant been, 

While the minions of satan have strained every 
nerve 

To ruin our boys and our men. 

Rouse, mothers, too long we’ve been sleeping, 
Shall one of us let it be said 
That we calmly stood by while those who are 
dear, 

Were down to destruction led. 

American mothers, hear me, 

If you think God will not send the warning 
In hieroglyphics upon the wall? 

God is not mocked, He is just the same, 

And has given the power to you. 

If you’re weighed and found wanting our nation 
will fall 

Because you did not your duty do. 

Then let us unfurl our broad banners, 

Fling their folds to the breezes high, 

Let this still be our motto, 

“We’ll trust in God, and keep our powder dry.” 

—Carrie Chew Snedon. 



















































































































































































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